Professional services generally attract 10% TDS after ₹50,000; technical services, specified film royalty and call-centre payments generally use 2%.
Professional services generally attract 10% TDS after ₹50,000; technical services, specified film royalty and call-centre payments generally use 2%. Director fees/commission under the category have no monetary threshold.
Section 393 consolidates withholding from 1 April 2026. Classification follows the nature of service, not invoice wording.
Identify payer obligation; classify professional/technical/director/royalty; aggregate threshold; deduct at credit or payment; issue certificate; recipient claims credit.
A company pays a consultant ₹80,000 for legal advice: 10% applies to the covered amount under the table. A qualifying technical-service payment can use 2%.
The example is an illustration, not a substitute for the taxpayer's facts. A change in status, period, payment mode, document, city, asset, relationship or scheme can change the result.
Search pages often state a rate or limit without identifying the governing base. The calculation must distinguish gross receipt from taxable profit, tax from TDS, a deduction from an exemption, salary from business income, and an accounting entry from the tax treatment.
| Decision point | Required treatment |
|---|---|
| Legal year | Use the Act, rules and notification effective for the income or transaction period |
| Taxpayer category | Confirm residence, age, entity, employee/business status and regime |
| Calculation base | Use the statutory definition rather than CTC, net bank receipt or accounting label |
| Ceiling or rate | Apply actual-amount, percentage, shared, lifetime and gross-income limits in sequence |
| Documentation | Link every input to an invoice, statement, contract, certificate or official record |
| Final output | Show tax, surcharge, cess, interest and TDS/TCS credits separately |
This page is written around the entities and concepts search engines expect for the topic: professional fees, section 393, TDS, 44ADA, gross receipts. They are used only where relevant and are connected to the live calculator and knowledge hub rather than repeated mechanically.
For the complete rules on this topic, see the core guide: TDS on Rent & Professional Fees: Section 393 Codes.
See the broader Income-tax Act 2025 study guide hub for related rules and calculators on this topic.
Professional services generally attract 10% TDS after ₹50,000; technical services, specified film royalty and call-centre payments generally use 2%. Director fees/commission under the category have no monetary threshold.
Finin2min rule: establish eligibility, calculate transparently, and preserve an audit trail.
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