Form No. 139 (Earlier Form No. 26B)

Form No. 139: Form to be filled by the deductor, if he claims refund of sum paid under Chapter XIX of the Income-tax Act, 2025

Name of form as per I.T. Rules, 1962	26B	Name of form as per I.T. Rules, 2026	139
Corresponding section of I.T. Act, 1961	200A & 206CB	Corresponding section of I.T. Act, 2025	399(1)(f)
Corresponding Rule of I.T. Rules, 1962	31A(3A)	Corresponding Rule of I.T. Rules, 2026	219(6)

Purpose:

This form entitles the deductor/collector to claim refund of the excess amount of TDS/TCS paid.

As per Rule 219(6) of the Income-tax Rules, 2026:

“Where a person has paid to the credit of the Central Government any sum under Chapter XIX-B in excess of the amount required to be paid, he may claim refund of such excess by filing an application in Form No. 139 electronically to the Director General of Income-tax (Systems) or the person authorised by him.”

This may arise due to errors like duplicate deductions, deduction at higher than applicable rates or overpayment.

Who should file:

Any Deductor (under TDS) or Collector (under TCS) or Taxpayer (for refund related to tax deducted under section 393(1) [Table: Sl. Nos. 2(i), 3(i), 6(ii) and 8(vi)]) who has:

1. Deposited tax in excess of actual liability due to:

• Duplicate payments,
• Incorrect challan details,
• Excess deduction due to calculation error, or
• Rectified demand adjustments, etc.; and

2. Whose TDS/TCS statement has been processed by CPC-TDS (TRACES), and such excess payment is available as an unmatched / unconsumed challan credit in the system.

Only registered TAN/PAN holders on TRACES Portal are eligible to file Form No. 139.

Frequency & Due Dates:

• Form No. 139 can be filed at any time after the corresponding TDS/TCS statement has been processed and excess payment is available for refund.

Structure of Form No. 139:

1. Part A: Particulars of the Deductor/Collector

• Name, Address, PAN, TAN (if applicable) and Contact Details
• Bank Account Number, IFSC Code, Type of Account (as applicable) and Legal Entity Identification Number (if applicable)

2. Part B:

• Details of sum paid for which Refund is being claimed: Challan Identification Number (CIN) [BSR Code, Date of Deposit, Challan Serial No.] and Challan Amount.
• Detail of sum paid under Chapter XIX by the deductor/collector for which credit has been claimed in the statement: Tax Year, Statements in which challan has been utilised, Receipt number/Acknowledgement number of relevant statements and Amount utilised in statement.
• Amount of refund claimed.

3. Declaration:

• Declaration by Deductor/Collector/Taxpayer that claim is true and excess amount has not been claimed elsewhere.
• Digital Signature of Authorised Signatory.

Documents/details required to file the Form No. 139:

To file Form No. 139 electronically, the following are generally required:

• Copies of challan through which excess TDS/TCS paid.
• PAN/TAN details.
• Details of statements in which tax credit has been claimed, if applicable.
• Justification for refund.
• Bank details with supporting proof.

Filing Count:

On average, about five thousand refund requests have been filed annually over the last five years.

Process flow of filing Form No. 139:

1.Login

• Deductor/Collector/Taxpayer logs in to TRACES using TAN/PAN credentials.

2.Request for Refund

• Navigate to ‘Refund’ → ‘Request for Refund’.
• Select Tax Year, Quarter, and Form Type (138, 140, 141, 143 & 144).

3. Select Challan for Refund

• System displays available challans with unconsumed balance.
• Select appropriate challan(s) and specify reason for refund.

4. Form No. 139 Generation

• TRACES generates Form No. 139 pre-filled with challan data.
• Download, review, and sign digitally with DSC.

5. Refund Processing

• TDS Assessing Officer or Range head approves the application depending upon the amount of refund in the application.
• After approval by field formation, CPC-TDS processes the refund.
• Refund is credited to the validated bank account via CPC-Refund Bank.

6. Rejection of Application: Refund request may be rejected for following reasons:

• Claim is made for more than the amount of maximum available amount in challan.
• Mismatch in Bank details.
• Any other reasons

Outcome of Processed Form No. 139:

For Deductor / Collector/Taxpayer

• Refund of excess TDS/TCS credited electronically to the registered bank account.
• Status can be tracked on TRACES (“Refund Status”).
• Refund may be adjusted against any outstanding demand before issue.

For Department / System

• CPC-TDS automatically updates the challan balance and marks it as “Refunded”.
• Helps maintain accurate credit reconciliation across statements.

Brief Note on Qualitative Changes made:

1. The revised Form No. 139 aims to make refund claims faster, accurate, and system-driven through automation and integration.
2. The form will be a smart one to enhance user experience and providing ease of filing through

a. auto-population/pre-filling of relevant details using information available from the Deductor’s/Taxpayer’s TRACES profile.

b. real time validations & error handling

c. facility to claim multiple challans in one Form, instead of filing separate forms for each quarter or section, where applicable.

d. drop downs & date pickers

e. integration with APIs & Databases

f. Check box based smart verification

g. Standardization of name & address fields etc.

Common Changes made across Forms:

1. To make Forms system-friendly and enable e-filing and uploading, certain anomalies found due to grouping of Name, Designation, Address and PAN have been separated into different boxes.
2. Assessment / Financial / Previous year or years have been replaced with Tax year or years, wherever appearing in the Form/Annexure.
3. Changes in Sections, Clauses and Schedules have been aligned as per the Income-tax Act, 2025.
4. Currency symbol “Rs.” has been replaced with “₹”.

Excess TDS and TCS refund claims move through a TRACES-based electronic form with pre-filled challan details and digital signing. Form No. 139 is the electronic refund application by which a deductor, collector, or eligible taxpayer may claim refund of excess tax paid under Chapter XIX. Filing is permitted where the corresponding TDS or TCS statement has been processed and the excess remains as an unmatched or unconsumed challan credit. The application requires challan particulars, utilisation details, refund amount, declaration, digital signature, and supporting bank and tax records.