Budget-friendly Form 24Q — TDS on salary in India

Form 24Q — who files it, when it is due, what late filing costs, and what we charge to prepare it. India (Income Tax Department). Budget-friendly Form 24Q with a fixed fee agreed in writing before any work starts. Call the 24-hour helpline on +1 (416) 619-0068, or request a written quote today.

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Secure a fixed quote

Send what you have. We price the engagement from your own documents, in writing, before any work starts.

24-hour helpline: +1 (416) 619-0068
  • Fixed fee agreed before work starts
  • 15+ years of cross-border experience
  • Offices in India, the USA, Canada and the UAE
In 60 words

Form 24Q is a withholding return or recipient slip: The quarterly return of tax deducted from salary, including salary paid to expatriate and seconded employees. Indian employers, and foreign employers with staff whose salary is taxable in India.

Does this bind you?

Indian employers, and foreign employers with staff whose salary is taxable in India.

One question decides the rest of the file. Expatriate payroll is where this return gets difficult: split payroll, foreign-paid components and treaty-exempt portions all have to be reflected here, and the employee's Indian return is built from what it reports.

Two of the firm’s advisers at a desk in the Delhi office

What form 24q India costs here

A quarterly salary TDS return is priced on headcount and on how complicated the payroll is: a domestic staff list runs to a routine filing, while seconded and expatriate employees on split payroll, with foreign-paid components and treaty-exempt portions to reflect, take real analysis before the return can be prepared at all.

Lower TDS certificate application (Form 13) — India desk price

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

The lower-deduction certificate application: the computation, the cost evidence, the treaty position, and the follow-through to issue before the transaction closes.
See the full fee page

15CA/15CB remittance certification — fixed-fee price

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

The remitter declaration and the accountant's certificate on an outward Indian remittance, prepared to the standard the bank will actually accept.
See the full fee page

Individual tax filing

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

Individual returns where salary, investments or property sit outside the country of residence, prepared so relief is claimed once and in the right place.
See the fee schedule

Foreign asset & information reporting

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

Foreign holdings mapped once — accounts, real property, shareholdings — then reported to each authority in the form it requires.
See the fee schedule

Non-resident & departure filings

From $349

fixed, quoted before work starts

Returns for the year you leave, the year you arrive, and the years you earn rental or pension income from a country you no longer live in.
See the fee schedule

Payroll & mobility setup

From $999

fixed, quoted before work starts

Registrations, withholding and the employer obligations that follow staff working across a border, set up once and correctly.
See the fee schedule

Corporate cross-border filing

From $999

fixed, quoted before work starts

Corporate returns with foreign income, related-party reporting and cross-border structures, for companies of any size.
See the fee schedule

Estate & trust filing

From $799

fixed, quoted before work starts

For an estate holding property in more than one country, or a trust with beneficiaries who are taxed somewhere else.
See the fee schedule

All published fees on one page — one page, every published fee, nothing quoted as a vague bracket.

What the reporting test actually looks at

What decides whether Form 24Q applies
Payment typeWhat determines the rate
The obligationThe quarterly return of tax deducted from salary, including salary paid to expatriate and seconded employees.
Who it bindsIndian employers, and foreign employers with staff whose salary is taxable in India.
Jurisdiction and authorityIndia — Income Tax Department
Category of filingWithholding return or recipient slip

When it is due

Withholding is remitted on a schedule tied to the payment, and the annual return and slips are due after the year end on their own date. The remittance timetable, not the return date, is what generates most of the exposure. The date is confirmed for your year at the start of the engagement, not assumed from last year's.

What late or missed filing costs

The payer is liable for tax it failed to withhold, not merely for a penalty on it. Late remittance and late or incorrect slips carry their own charges, and the recipient's ability to claim the credit depends on the slip being right. We quantify the exposure in writing before recommending a route, so the decision is made on numbers rather than on anxiety.

Worked through with figures

This is what the rule produces when you put figures through it.

Gross withholding against a net-basis return

A non-resident receives C$56,000 in the year. Assume withholding at 19% on the gross amount, and assume deductible costs of C$38,080 against it.

Gross withholding against a net-basis return
ItemAmount
Gross amount receivedC$56,000
Withheld at source (assumed 19% of gross)C$10,640
Deductible costsC$38,080
Net amount actually earnedC$17,920
Tax on the net amount (assumed graduated result)C$4,480
Difference recoverable by filingC$6,160

Filing on a net basis recovers C$6,160 of the C$10,640 withheld. That difference is the entire reason the elective return exists, and it is lost by not filing. Change any one of those inputs and the answer moves, which is why we run it on your own figures rather than on an illustration.

An illustration, not a client file. The sums are chosen for legibility and the thresholds are stated for the example alone — nothing reaches a filing until it has been confirmed at source for your own year.

How we prepare and file it, and what it costs

Form 24Q is quoted with the rest of the year's filings so you see one number rather than a list of add-ons. If the scope changes we come back to you before doing the work. See the Indian payroll for a foreign employer for comparable engagements.

How the engagement runs

  1. 1Identify every payment stream and the rate that actually applies to each
  2. 2Confirm the recipient's status documentation is valid and current
  3. 3Remit on schedule and issue slips with the correct codes
  4. 4Reconcile the annual return to the remittances and to the corporate schedules
  • Every statutory figure in your file is verified for your own year at source.
  • Your existing accountant keeps the domestic file; we take the cross-border piece, with the boundary in writing.
  • Consultations scheduled to your working day rather than ours.

Send us the facts and we will tell you what has to be filed and what it costs.

Checked and signed off for the 2025 and 2026 filing seasons by Udit Gupta, Cross-Border Tax Expert, Legal Quotient Consultants. General guidance only. Your own facts decide the answer, so bring them to a call before relying on this.

Where double tax agreement India comes into this file

Most readers of this page are looking for double tax agreement India. What follows sets out how it works for Form 24Q: who is caught by it, what has to be filed, and what the work costs, agreed before it begins.

Expatriate payroll is where this return gets difficult: split payroll, foreign-paid components and treaty-exempt portions all have to be reflected here, and the employee's Indian return is built from what it reports.

How the engagement runs, phase by phase

  1. Tell us the dates and we will tell you the position

    Arrival, departure, the years in between — the residence question turns on those before anything else.

  2. Fixed fee, defined scope, in writing

    Both agreed before work starts, so the engagement cannot grow into a larger bill.

  3. Prepared together, not passed between firms

    You are not the go-between for two sets of advisers working from two sets of assumptions.

  4. Reviewed, approved, filed

    A named practitioner checks it, you approve it, and then it goes.

What you are actually buying with form 24q India

Factor Legal Quotient Hourly billing model
Pricing A fixed fee, agreed in writing before work starts Hourly, billed as incurred
Experience 15+ years of cross-border work, 18,000+ clients Varies by file
Both sides of the border Prepared together by one team, so relief is claimed exactly once One country at a time, reconciled later
Who reviews it A named practitioner, published on the page Whoever the queue reaches
Where the work happens Our offices in India, the USA, Canada and the UAE Whichever single office you can travel to

Key terms behind this page, defined

Hybrid surplus
A surplus pool arising principally from certain capital gains of a foreign affiliate, with its own rules on distribution.
Implicit support
The benefit a group member gets from mere association with the group. It is not chargeable, which is why a guarantee fee is priced on the incremental benefit only.
Green card test
The rule that makes a lawful permanent resident a US tax resident for as long as the status is valid, whether or not they live in the United States.
Resale price method
A method testing the gross margin earned by a reseller, sensitive to consistent classification between cost of sales and operating expense.
form 24q India: How we read this one

Expatriate payroll is where this return gets difficult: split payroll, foreign-paid components and treaty-exempt portions all have to be reflected here, and the employee's Indian return is built from what it reports.

Complexity changes the work, not the deal: the written fee and scope come first, a named practitioner signs off, and the filing follows your approval of the delivered file.

Form 24q India — what the published fees look like

Employers who file every quarter are usually quoted for the year rather than the return, which also covers the year-end salary certificates that come out of it. Corrections are separate: a revised return to fix a wrong identifier or a misallocated deduction is its own piece of work, agreed in writing before it begins.

Lower TDS certificate application (Form 13) — India desk price

$349fixed, before work starts

Covers: The lower-deduction certificate application: the computation, the cost evidence, the treaty position, and the follow-through to issue before the transaction closes.

What makes it bigger: How much reconstruction the cost base needs. An inherited or long-held property usually needs documents assembled before any computation can be made.

See this fee page

NRI Indian return (ITR-2)

$349fixed, before work starts

Covers: The Indian return on India's own year, reconciled against the department's information statement, with treaty relief and the deduction-at-source credits properly claimed.

What makes it bigger: Property and capital gains together. Rent with deduction at source is routine; a property sale in the same year brings computation, indexation and often a certificate application.

See this fee page

What working with us on form 24q India looks like

Every figure on a page is traceable

Where a rate or a threshold appears in our writing it names the tax year it belongs to. Where it could not be confirmed, the page describes the mechanism and quotes no number.

Cross-border is the whole practice

International and cross-border tax is all we do — not a sideline next to domestic work. The edge cases on this page are our ordinary Tuesday.

We say early if it is not our work

If a file needs something this practice does not do, you hear that at the start rather than after a bill.

The quote comes from your documents

Nothing is priced from a phone call. We read what you have first, then the fee is set — so the scope and the number are agreed on the same evidence.

The firm’s founder at his desk in the Delhi office

Form 24q India — the four phases

Step 1

First conversation

A call to the 24-hour helpline to find out whether this is a filing or a project

Step 2

Written quote

A fixed fee for a written scope — re-quoted if the scope changes, never invoiced silently

Step 3

Preparation and sign-off

Preparation against the evidence, with the positions documented as we go

Step 4

Submission

Your approval, then the filing — in that order

Two of the firm’s advisers and the team in the open-plan office

From first document to filed return

  • Step 1: Upload the file as it stands – A secure link arrives after the first call. Incomplete is fine; that is what the review is for.
  • Step 2: The number is settled up front – Priced from your own documents and confirmed in writing before any preparation begins.
  • Step 3: Both returns on one desk – One engagement covers every country the file touches, reconciled line against line.
  • Step 4: Your approval, then the filing – The return is yours to check first. We file once you say so.

Quoted up front, in writing.

Contact Us 24-hour helpline +1 (416) 619-0068

The rest of this practice

Every link below is a full page of its own — the same depth as this one, for its own subject.

The work we do for clients like this

Intercompany loans & thin capitalisation Everything on intercompany loans thin capitalisation, at the same depth as this page.
Paying a non-resident for work done in Canada Paying non-resident for work done in Canada — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
CRA residency determination review The full guide to CRA residency determination review, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Form 14653 — non-resident certification Its own page: form 14653 non resident certification — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
TNMM in practice Everything on TNMM in practice, at the same depth as this page.
Digital services & the marketplace rules Digital services & the marketplace rules — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Drop-shipping tax exposure The full guide to drop-shipping tax exposure, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Pillar Two readiness assessment Its own page: pillar two — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Indian ESOPs held after leaving India Everything on Indian ESOPs held after leaving India, at the same depth as this page.

Who we bring this work to

Tax for auditors & accountants abroad Everything on auditors & accountants abroad tax, at the same depth as this page.
Tax for it contractors It contractors tax — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Tax for mining engineers & geologists The full guide to mining engineers & geologists tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
App & game studios cross-border tax Its own page: app & game studios cross border tax — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
IT contractors — relief you're probably missing Everything on it contractors relief you're probably missing, at the same depth as this page.
Tax for forex traders Forex traders tax — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Tax for cabin crew The full guide to cabin crew tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Hospitality & franchise groups cross-border tax Its own page: hospitality & franchise groups cross border tax — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Tax for crypto traders Everything on crypto traders tax, at the same depth as this page.

Countries and corridors this work reaches

Canada–Saudi Arabia tax corridor Everything on Canada Saudi Arabia tax, at the same depth as this page.
United States tax for expats — country guide United States tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
Canada–United States tax corridor The full guide to Canada United States tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
Romania tax for expats — country guide Its own page: romania tax for expats — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Trinidad & Tobago tax for expats — country guide Everything on Trinidad & tobago tax for expats, at the same depth as this page.
Ukraine tax for expats — country guide Ukraine tax for expats — the guide, the FAQ and the fixed fee.
India–Singapore tax corridor The full guide to India Singapore tax, with the fee fixed before any work starts.
US–Australia tax corridor Its own page: US Australia tax — mechanism, deadlines and published fees.
Norway tax for expats — country guide Everything on Norway tax for expats, at the same depth as this page.

The people on your file

Five named practitioners, each with the part of a cross-border file they carry. Every page on this site says who reviewed it, and the reviewer is one of these people rather than an unnamed team.

Udit Gupta

Udit Gupta

Cross-Border Tax Expert

CA (ICAI), In-Depth Tax Trained

Reviews and signs off the practice's cross-border positions, and carries final responsibility for the treaty analysis on every file that leaves the office.

Abhinav Gupta

Abhinav Gupta

Canada Tax / International Tax

Canada Tax, International Tax, Cross-Border Tax, Transfer Pricing

Canadian returns with foreign income, non-resident filings, and the transfer-pricing documentation that runs alongside intercompany work.

Raghav Gupta

Raghav Gupta

International Tax

International Tax, Transfer Pricing Specialist

Benchmarking, method selection and the local-file and master-file sets that support a group's pricing policy under examination.

Anmol Mittal

Anmol Mittal

Canada and US tax

CPA Canada, CPA USA, CA (ICAI)

Files that have to be right on both sides of the border at once — dual filings, streamlined catch-ups, and the foreign tax credit reconciliation between them.

Vinayak Indolia

Vinayak Indolia

CFO advisory

CPA, CA. Fractional CFO and Senior Advisory Specialist

Groups that need the tax position and the finance function to agree: structure reviews, intercompany policy, and the reporting a board can act on.

Meet the whole team

Cross-border situations we are engaged for

Case study 1

An Indian Company Paying a Foreign Supplier

Payments abroad carry deduction at source and a certification filed before the money moves. Whether the treaty reduces the rate depends on what is being bought, and the classification is the decision the whole filing rests on.

Read how this one runs
Case study 2

A TFSA That Costs More Than It Saves

Canadian tax-free accounts are not tax-free to a US person, and some of them carry a reporting form of their own. The file is a review of what is held, what each account triggers on the US side, and whether the account is worth keeping once the reporting is priced in.

Read how this one runs
Case study 3

Deduction at Source on Deposit Interest, Recovered

Where the treaty rate is lower than what was deducted, the difference comes back through a return rather than at source. The file establishes entitlement and files for the years still open.

Read how this one runs
Case study 4

Indian Rent Collected While Resident Somewhere Else

Rent from Indian property is taxed in India and again where you live, with relief on one side only. The file gets the Indian deduction right first, then claims the credit on the home return against what was actually paid.

Read how this one runs
Case study 5

An NRI Selling Indian Property With Tax Withheld on the Price

Withholding on a sale by a non-resident is applied to the sale value rather than to the gain, so it routinely exceeds the tax due. A lower-deduction certificate obtained before completion avoids locking the difference up until a return is assessed.

Read how this one runs
Case study 6

A Company Abroad Owned by a US Person

A business incorporated where the owner lives is a foreign corporation to the IRS, with a reporting package of its own and schedules that need local accounts restated. Classification comes first, because it decides what is reportable and when profits are taxed.

Read how this one runs
Case study 7

Information Returns Missed Behind a Correct Return

The heaviest exposure on a cross-border file is often a disclosure form rather than the tax. Where the return itself was right, the procedures for late information returns turn on a reasonable-cause narrative with dates and documents behind it.

Read how this one runs
Case study 8

A Canadian Employer With Staff in the United States

Employing someone in the US creates federal and state obligations that begin with registration, not with the first return. Which states are engaged is decided by where the work happens rather than where the company is.

Read how this one runs

All case studies — every published engagement in one place.

Core International & Cross-Border Tax Services

International Tax Planning & Advisory

Strategy and compliance for income, assets and families spread across borders.

One coordinating team: filings on every side of the border are sequenced so treaty relief and foreign tax credits are claimed once — and in the right country.

U.S. & Cross-Border Tax Returns

Dual filers: U.S. citizens in Canada and Canadians with U.S. income run two parallel systems — we prepare both, in the right order, every year.

Expat & Emigration Tax

The move year is its own project: the elections and valuations filed that year decide the next decade of both countries’ returns.

Non-Resident Canadian Tax

Default withholding is 25% of gross: elective returns routinely turn over-withheld rent and pensions into refunds.

Transfer Pricing & BEPS

Documentation prepared with the return is the cheapest insurance in international tax; reconstructing it during an audit is the most expensive.

Cross-Border Estates & Trusts

Wills drafted for one country routinely misfire in the other — deemed disposition here, estate tax there, credits in between.

Cross-Border Corporate Tax

Expansion raises the same four questions every time — entity, PE, repatriation, payroll. We answer them before the tax authorities do.

India Tax for NRIs & Returning Residents

The deduction is taken on the sale price, not the gain — which is why an NRI property sale strands cash unless the certificate is applied for before closing.

Canadian Tax with a Foreign Element

Residency is decided on facts, not on a form — and the year you arrive or leave is the one where the largest amounts turn on the smallest details.

UAE Tax for Expats & Their Home Country

A zero-tax country is only half the answer — the question that decides the bill is whether the country you came from still treats you as resident.

Industries & Client Types We Serve Worldwide

Global E-commerce & Marketplaces
Technology & SaaS
Professional Services Firms
Cross-Border Real Estate
Importers, Exporters & Manufacturers
Athletes, Artists & Entertainers
Remote Workers & Digital Nomads
Investment Funds & Holding Companies

Global E-commerce & Marketplaces

  • Foreign VAT / GST / sales tax registrations
  • Marketplace withholding reviews
  • Inventory nexus & PE analysis
  • Multi-currency books reconciled
Explore E-commerce & Marketplaces

Technology & SaaS

  • Cross-border revenue sourcing & withholding
  • IP structuring with real substance
  • Equity for cross-border teams
  • U.S. expansion: entity & PE setup
Explore Technology & SaaS

Importers, Exporters & Manufacturers

Related-party purchasing, customs value versus transfer price, and foreign-affiliate structures put trading businesses inside the s.247 documentation rules.

Goods crossing a border move the tax question from income to indirect: registration thresholds, place of supply, the customs value and the transfer price between related entities all have to agree with each other. When they do not, the adjustment arrives from two authorities at once and each one uses the other's number.

  • Transfer pricing documentation (s.247)
  • Customs value vs transfer price
  • Foreign affiliate reporting (T1134)
  • Country-by-country reporting
Explore Trade & Manufacturing

Athletes, Artists & Entertainers

  • Reg 105 & U.S. CWA agreements
  • Multi-state & country calendars
  • Touring income allocation
  • Royalty & image-rights withholding
Explore Athletes & Entertainers

Remote Workers & Digital Nomads

  • Residency analysis before moving
  • Employer payroll exposure
  • Totalization & social security
  • Foreign tax credits
Explore Remote Workers

Investment Funds & Holding Companies

  • Treaty access & PPT reviews
  • FAPI & surplus computations
  • Withholding-efficient routing
  • Governance & substance
Explore Funds & Holdcos

Form 24Q — questions we are asked

Do I file Form 24Q even if no tax is owed?

Withholding return or recipient slip obligations of this kind are generally required on the facts rather than on the tax result, so a nil position does not remove one. Indian employers, and foreign employers with staff whose salary is taxable in India.

What happens if I have missed Form 24Q for several years?

Missed years are dealt with as a package rather than one at a time, because the route chosen for the first year affects the relief available for the rest. We map the years and the obligations before anything is filed.

Is Form 24Q the same as the other reports I already file?

No. The quarterly return of tax deducted from salary, including salary paid to expatriate and seconded employees. Satisfying a different obligation, even one covering the same accounts or entity, does nothing for this one.

Can an NRI claim back TDS deducted on Indian income?

Yes, by filing an Indian return for the year. Withholding on rent, interest, dividends, professional fees or a property sale is an advance payment, not a final tax, so where the actual liability is lower — because of the treaty, because of the basic exemption, or because the deduction was computed on gross proceeds rather than gain — the excess comes back as a refund. It needs your PAN, a validated Indian bank account and the deductor's statement filed. See Indian filing and credit claims.

Do NRIs pay tax on money sent to India?

Sending your own funds to India is a transfer of capital, not income, so the remittance itself is not taxed. What is taxable is income the money then earns in India — interest, rent, capital gains — under the rules for the account type it sits in. Sending money out of India is the direction that needs certification before the bank will act. See NRE, NRO and FCNR accounts.

How do I reduce withholding tax on a cross-border payment?

Before the payment, not after. Where a treaty gives a lower rate, the payer needs your residency declaration in hand to apply it; where the statutory rate would over-withhold on a gross amount, an advance application can authorise a reduced deduction on a net or estimated basis. Once the money has moved at the full rate, your remaining route is an elective return or a refund claim, which recovers the same cash far more slowly. See withholding refund and recovery.

24-hour helpline: +1 (416) 619-0068

Ready to deal with Form 24Q?

One call to the 24-hour helpline is enough to tell you what has to be filed, what it costs, and whether you need us at all.

  • Re-quoted, never silently invoiced
  • Fixed fees agreed before work starts
  • Your existing accountant keeps the domestic file

Our practitioners are alumni of leading accounting and tax institutions

Where our partners studied — CPA Canada (In-Depth Tax Program), AICPA, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and the Malaysian Institute of Accountants.

Request a Quote +1 (416) 619-0068