Housing societies that pay contractors or professionals above certain thresholds are required to deduct TDS — tax deducted at source — before paying the vendor. In practice, a lot of societies either skip this entirely or apply it inconsistently, because it depends on someone remembering the right section, the right threshold, and the right rate for that specific vendor, every single time a payment is made.
The threshold and rate, worked out automatically
In Nivas Portal, each vendor is tagged with a TDS category — Section 194C for contractors, Section 194J for professional or technical services — along with their PAN. When an expense is logged against that vendor, the system checks it against the actual thresholds: for 194C, ₹30,000 on a single payment or ₹1,00,000 aggregated across the financial year; for 194J, ₹50,000 aggregated. Below those thresholds, no TDS applies — above them, the suggested amount is calculated using the correct rate for that vendor automatically: 1% for an individual or HUF contractor, 2% for a company or firm, 10% for professional services, 2% for technical services — or a flat 20% if the vendor has no PAN on file, per Section 206AA.
- Aggregate thresholds track a vendor’s total payments across the financial year, not just the single payment being made — so a vendor paid in smaller installments doesn’t quietly slip under the limit.
- The suggested TDS amount and the section it falls under are shown on the expense itself, with the reasoning — not just a number to trust blindly.
- A per-vendor financial-year summary shows exactly what’s been paid and deducted, useful when it’s time to actually file the deduction.
This is a suggestion engine, not a filing system — it doesn’t generate Form 26Q or Form 16A, and a society still needs its accountant to actually deposit the deducted tax and file the quarterly TDS return. What it does is make sure the right amount is being withheld from the right vendor before that filing ever happens.
Get consistent, threshold-aware TDS suggestions on every vendor payment — start a free trial at nivasportal.com. Related read: reconciling the bank statement automatically.