Indian TDS Tax Withholding on Upwork Earnings

lenaellis · ‎09-14-2020

Starting October 1st, Upwork will begin withholding Tax Deducted at Source, TDS, from payments to freelancers and agencies located in India as part of a new tax law enforced by the Indian government.

As part of our continued efforts to remain compliant with tax laws in India, we are asking that our customers in India provide their Income Tax Identification number in the “Tax Info” section under “Settings”. For purposes of TDS withholding, the Indian government will accept either a Permanent Account Number (PAN) or an Aadhaar number. Please be sure to use the correct format for your PAN or Aadhaar number as defined by the Indian government:

PAN is a 10-digit alphanumeric entry, i.e., A A A A A # # # # A
# = Numeric A = Alphabetic

Aadhaar is a 12-digit numeric entry

For those freelancers and agencies that have provided a PAN or an Aadhaar number:

We are required to withhold 0.75% of all your payments, starting with the first dollar you earn as of October 1, 2020, and forward it to the Indian government. The rate is scheduled to increase to 1% on April 1, 2021.

For those freelancers and agencies that have not provided a PAN or an Aadhaar number:

We will be required to withhold 5% of all your Upwork earnings and forward it to the Indian government. You will be able to claim a tax credit or refund from the Indian government should you pay more taxes than required.

You will need to add a PAN or Aadhaar number in order to keep the withholding tax at .75% of your earnings. Click here to Add Income Tax Identification.

To learn more about Indian TDS, click here.

Let us know if you have any questions.

loveleshsoni1349 · ‎03-03-2021

Hi Nipun,

That is why this is so confusing. If TDS is deducted then I guess it should be directly linked to my PAN and it should be reflecting how much amount in INR is it. Makes sense? TDS is something they have to hand it over to Indian Government and that should reflect how much TDS is deposited at the end of the financial year.

Is there a way to check how much TDS is already deposited under my PAN number for this current year?

-Best

Lovelesh

vipunit · ‎03-03-2021

Hello Lovelesh,

to check TDS already deposited to your PAN can be viewed on Incometax portal>>TAX credit 26AS form or TRACES. if you still need any help, you can PM me.

loveleshsoni1349 · ‎03-04-2021

Hi Gurucharan,

My CA checked it and it's not reflecting there. I spoke to Upwork customer care and they will get back to me in 1-2 days. They said that they email the Tax form after every quarter. Is it true? Have you or any other upwork member received such email from them?

-Best

Lovelesh

akshay-atominc · ‎03-06-2021

Hi Goran. I hope you guys are still working on this. Just want to let you know that the TDS deducted by Upwork doesn't appear on TRACES still. There is a Form 26AS which should reflect the amount deducted by Upwork: https://services.tdscpc.gov.in/serv/tapn/view26AS.xhtml I also want to bring to your attention the attached prompt about collecting Form 16 from Upwork (the deductor). Should we expect Form 16 in April (as you pointed out)?

tanujwadhwa · ‎03-06-2021

Hi Upwork Team and Freelancers India,

Can you please suggest how to file income tax using the Upwork invoices ?

thanks in advance

iaabraham · ‎03-07-2021

Still crickets from Upwork ... seriously?? I'm meeting my accountant soon, and this is not acceptable.

9ed00e97 · ‎03-08-2021

I can see withhold tax cut for 17 march and 10th march in one single week. Can you help me understand

petra_r · ‎03-08-2021

Jaina S wrote:
I can see withhold tax cut for 17 march and 10th march in one single week. Can you help me understand

The withholding tax is a percentgage of any given payment, not per week as such. It also isn't "in one single week".

The one marked as 10th of March is for the work week 22nd to 28th of February, for which you're paid tomorrow, the one marked 17th of March is for the work week 1st to 7th of March, for which you're paid next Wednesday.

iaabraham · ‎03-09-2021

I understand that there's a lot of bureacracy and delays in communicating with Indian authorities ... but the silence is deafening. Can someone provide an update or just an acknowledgment that at least something is happening?

kochubei_valeria · ‎03-09-2021

Hi All,

We had hoped to have the tax information available by the expected date on February 15, but delays have occurred due to unclear filing instructions and limited guidance from our accounting partners in India. We know this information is critical to you and we are sorry for the delay. We will update you via email as soon as we know more. Please know that all funds withheld have been remitted to the Indian government; the delay has been in the reporting and allocation of those funds on an individual-user basis. We should have this matter resolved before the end of the Indian tax year, so you should not incur any penalties from the delayed issuance of the form 16As.

We appreciate your patience.