TDS certificates: the register of Form 131, Form 16 and Form 27D

A TDS Certificate is a register entry for the certificate your company owes a deductee once a quarterly withholding return is filed. Form 131 goes to vendors whose payments had non-salary TDS deducted, Form 27D to customers from whom TCS was collected, and Form 16 to employees for salary TDS. The certificate is the last step of the TDS & TCS cycle. Deductions are recorded when documents post, challans deposit them, and the quarterly return reports them. After you file the return, Generate Certificates builds this register from it.

Overview

The register holds one record per certificate, with:

• what it is: the certificate kind and its number;
• who it is for: the party account (or, for Form 16, the employee), the name and the PAN as reported on the return;
• what it certifies: the financial year, the quarter, the number of deductee rows it covers, and the totals of amount paid, tax deducted and tax deposited;
• where it stands: Draft or Issued, and the date you issued it.

xMatix keeps the register. It numbers the certificates, totals them, links them to the return and to every underlying deduction, and tracks issue. It does not produce the statutory certificate document. Download the certificate files from the government's TDS portal as usual. You can attach the file to the certificate record on its Attachment tab.

When to use it

• After you mark a non-salary TDS return (Form Code 140) or a TCS return (Form Code 143) Filed, generate that quarter's Form 131 or Form 27D register.
• After you mark the Q4 salary return (Form Code 138) Filed, generate the year's Form 16 register.
• When you hand a certificate to a vendor, customer or employee, mark it Issued. This lets the register show what is still outstanding.
• When a deductee or auditor quotes a certificate number, search the register to find the return and the totals behind it.

How xMatix handles it

Generation reads the filed return, not the books. Generate Certificates works only on a return whose status is Filed, and builds certificates from that return's own deductee rows:

For Form 131 and Form 27D, the deductee rows are grouped by party account, PAN and name. Certificates are numbered in name order, then PAN.

Form 16 is an annual certificate, so xMatix refuses to generate it from a Q1, Q2 or Q3 salary return. From the Q4 return it creates one certificate per employee in the annual salary details, including employees with no January–March pay. The totals add up that employee's deductee rows across all four quarters of the year. For each quarter, xMatix uses the most recently computed salary return of the company, so a correction replaces the original rather than adding to it. An employee is matched to their rows by PAN, or by name when the salary row has no PAN.

Numbering. Each number reads TAN / kind / financial year / quarter / sequence. For example, ABCD12345E/131/2026-27/Q2/0001 is the first Form 131 certificate of the Q2 return for FY 2026-27. The kind part is 131, 27D or 16, and the quarter of a Form 16 certificate is always Q4. The sequence starts at 0001 for each return. The certificate's Name is set to the same number.

The number goes onto every deduction. Generation writes the certificate number into the Certificate Number of each withholding transaction the certificate covers. Before this, that field holds the challan reference written when the challan was deposited. After generation, the ledger, the register and the return all quote the same certificate number.

Draft certificates can be regenerated. Issued ones lock the return. Running Generate Certificates again removes the return's Draft certificates and builds a fresh set. Once any certificate of that return is Issued, generation is refused, so issued numbers never change under the deductee.

Prerequisites

• The company's TAN recorded on the company account. It is the first part of every certificate number.
• The return computed, validated, filed on the government portal and marked Filed in xMatix. See TDS returns.
• For Form 16, the Q4 salary return of the year, with its annual salary details computed.
• Access to the Finance Setup app, and a security profile that grants Generate Certificates on TDS Return (see Permissions).

Procedure

Step 1 — Generate the register from the filed return

1. Open the Finance Setup app and, under Withholding Tax (TDS), open TDS Returns.
2. Open the return. Its status must be Filed.
3. Select Generate Certificates and confirm.

xMatix creates the certificates in Draft and writes their numbers onto the underlying deductions. If the return is not Filed, is a Q1–Q3 salary return, or already has an issued certificate, nothing is created and the message tells you why (see Common problems).

Step 2 — Find and review the certificates

1. In the Finance Setup app, under Withholding Tax (TDS), open TDS Certificates. The All TDS Certificates view lists the register.
2. Use the list's search and filters to find a certificate, for example by its number or party.
3. Open a certificate. The header shows Certificate Number, Kind, Party Pan, Total Tax Deducted and Status. The Details tab holds every field, and the Attachment tab holds files.

Check each certificate against the certificate file you download from the government portal: the PAN, the totals and the number of rows should agree.

Step 3 — Regenerate if the return was wrong

If you find a problem before you issue anything, fix it the way the return requires (usually through a correction return, see TDS returns). Then select Generate Certificates again on the filed return you want certificates for. The Draft set for that return is replaced.

Step 4 — Mark a certificate Issued

1. Open the certificate.
2. Select Edit. The fields become editable in place on the record page.
3. Set Status to Issued and enter Issued On, the date you gave it to the deductee.
4. Save.

The certificate now shows Issued. From then on, Generate Certificates on its return is refused. xMatix does not fill Issued On for you.

Step 5 — Keep the certificate file with the record

On the certificate's Attachment tab, upload the certificate file you downloaded from the government portal. This keeps the file you handed over next to the register entry.

Print Certificate on the record page opens a preview window. The window that ships with xMatix has no certificate content, so use the downloaded file instead.

Fields

The fields appear in this order on the Details tab. Generation fills all of them except Issued On.

Business rules

• Filed returns only. Generation is refused unless the return's status is Filed.
• Form 16 from Q4 only. A salary return of quarter 1, 2 or 3 is refused.
• Form Code 144 has no certificate. Generation on a non-resident return is refused.
• Regeneration replaces Draft certificates. Every Draft certificate of the return is removed and a fresh set is built, renumbered from 0001.
• Issued locks generation. If any certificate of the return is Issued, generation is refused and nothing changes. The lock looks only at certificates that still exist with status Issued. Changing a certificate back to Draft, or deleting it, lifts the lock.
• The lock does not protect the fields. An Issued certificate can still be edited or deleted by a user whose profile allows it. Keep edit and delete rights narrow.
• Corrections get their own register. Generating from a filed correction return creates a separate set linked to the correction. It uses the same numbering pattern, starting again at 0001. The original return's certificates are not changed or removed, and the deductions are re-stamped with the correction's numbers.
• Form 16 totals use the latest computed salary return of each quarter, whether or not that return is filed.
• An empty salary detail gives no certificates. If the Q4 salary return has no annual salary details, generation removes any Draft certificates and creates none.
• Reconciliation respects issued certificates. The TDS reconciliation does not raise a new source document for a party and return that already has an Issued certificate, because the new document would contradict it. Raise a correction statement instead.
• Manual records. New on the list creates a certificate by hand. It is not linked to any deduction, and nothing writes its number onto the ledger.

Example

A company files its Q2 FY 2026-27 non-salary TDS return, Form Code 140, which reports 14 deductee rows for 5 vendors. The accountant marks the return Filed and selects Generate Certificates.

xMatix creates 5 Draft Form 131 certificates, numbered …/131/2026-27/Q2/0001 to …/0005 in vendor-name order. The first, for an interior contractor, covers 4 rows: Total Amount Paid 4,80,000, Total Tax Deducted 9,600 and Total Tax Deposited 9,600. Each of the contractor's 4 deductions now shows …/Q2/0001 as its Certificate Number.

The accountant downloads the certificate files from the portal and checks that the contractor's totals agree. They attach the file, then set Status to Issued and Issued On to the day it was emailed. A week later someone tries to regenerate the Q2 register. xMatix refuses, because a certificate for the return is already Issued.

Training

Practice exercise

In a sandbox, take a Filed non-salary return (Form Code 140) with at least two deductees, and no issued certificates.

1. Select Generate Certificates. Expected result: one Draft certificate per deductee, numbered from 0001. Open one of its deductions and see the certificate number in Certificate Number.
2. Select Generate Certificates again. Expected result: the same number of Draft certificates, built afresh.
3. Mark one certificate Issued, with today's date, and run Generate Certificates once more. Expected result: the message "Certificates for this return have already been issued — the register is locked." and no change.
4. On a Q2 salary return that is Filed, run Generate Certificates. Expected result: the message that Form 16 is an annual certificate and must come from the Q4 statement.

Quick reference

• Certificates come only from a Filed return.
• Form 140 gives Form 131, Form 143 gives Form 27D, and Form 138 (Q4 only) gives Form 16.
• Numbers read TAN / kind / financial year / quarter / sequence.
• The number is written onto every deduction the certificate covers.
• Regenerating replaces Draft certificates. One Issued certificate locks the return.
• You set Issued and Issued On yourself.
• xMatix keeps the register. Get the certificate documents from the government portal.
• Form 16 totals cover the whole financial year.

Permissions

• Generate Certificates is a server action on TDS Return. The shipped standard-user and system-administrator profiles grant it.
• Print Certificate is granted on TDS Certificate in the same profiles.
• New, Edit and Delete on certificates follow the security profile's access to the TDS Certificate entity. Edit and delete on an Issued certificate are not blocked, so give these rights only to the people who issue certificates.
• A user without access to the Finance Setup app, or to the TDS Certificate list, does not reach the register. If something is missing for a user, see why a user can't see something.

Configuration

• Company TAN. Record it on the company account. It is part of every certificate number, so set it before the first generation.
• Return Form Code. It decides which certificate kind is built. See TDS returns.
• Navigation. The register is in the Finance Setup app, under the Withholding Tax (TDS) group as TDS Certificates. To show it in another app, add it with Setup → Design Studio → Apps → Manage Items.
• Record page. The Edit and Print Certificate buttons, the header statistics and the Details and Attachment tabs come from the certificate's View layout. You can change them in the layout designer (see Design a form layout).
• There is no numbering setting for certificates. The number format is fixed.

Common problems

"Certificates are generated from a Filed return."

The return is not Filed. Finish filing on the portal, then use Mark Filed on the return and generate again.

"Form 16 is an annual certificate — generate it from the Q4 statement of the financial year…"

You ran Generate Certificates on a Q1–Q3 salary return. Run it on the Q4 salary return of the same year instead.

"No certificate kind is defined for Form 144."

Non-resident returns do not produce certificates in xMatix.

"Certificates for this return have already been issued — the register is locked."

At least one certificate of the return is Issued. The existing certificates stay as they are. If the figures were wrong, file a correction return and generate certificates from the filed correction.

"One vendor has two certificates for the same quarter"

The return's deductee rows for that vendor carry two different PANs or names, for example because the PAN was corrected partway through the quarter. Certificates are grouped by party, PAN and name. Correct the party's data and report the change through a correction return.

"The Form 16 register has fewer employees than I expected"

Form 16 certificates follow the annual salary details of the Q4 salary return. An employee missing from those details gets no certificate. A Filed return cannot be recomputed, so the route is a correction of the Q4 return (see TDS returns). Check the employee's salary details on the correction, file it, and generate certificates from the filed correction.

"Print Certificate shows an empty window"

The seeded print window has no certificate content, because xMatix does not render the certificate document. Use the file from the government portal and keep it on the record's Attachment tab.

Common questions

Does xMatix create the PDF certificate I send to the vendor?

No. xMatix keeps the certificate register: the number, the totals, the link to the return and the deductions, and whether you have issued it. The statutory certificate document comes from the government's TDS portal after your return is processed. Download it there, check it against the register entry, then attach it on the certificate's Attachment tab. Mark the certificate Issued when you hand it over, so your team can see which certificates are still outstanding for each return.

Why did the Certificate Number on my deductions change?

When a challan is deposited, xMatix writes the challan reference into each deduction's Certificate Number. Generate Certificates then replaces it with the certificate number, so the ledger quotes the same reference as the register. If you generate again while the certificates are Draft, the deductions get the new numbers. A filed correction return that is generated later re-stamps the deductions with the correction's certificate numbers.

Can I change a certificate after I have issued it?

Yes. xMatix does not lock the fields of an Issued certificate, so a user who can edit certificates can change it. The lock applies only to generation: it stops Generate Certificates from replacing the return's certificates. Treat Issued certificates as final. If the figures were wrong, file a correction return rather than editing the register by hand, and keep edit and delete rights narrow.

How are Form 16 totals worked out?

Form 16 is generated once a year, from the Q4 salary return. Each employee's totals add up their deductee rows across all four quarters. For each quarter xMatix uses the most recently computed salary return, so a correction counts instead of the original, not in addition to it. That return does not have to be filed, so compute a quarter's correction only when you mean it to count, and generate after it.

Related topics

• TDS & TCS — the whole withholding cycle.
• TDS returns — computing, filing and correcting the quarterly statement that certificates come from.
• TDS challans — depositing the tax the certificates report.
• TDS reconciliation — comparing books and returns.
• Lower deduction certificates — a different certificate: the one a party holds to be deducted at a lower rate.
• TDS Certificate reference — every field.