TRACES: The Online Portal For All Your Tax-Related Requirements

When the onset of digitalization does not take place, all the legal works were manual, with the people having to wait for their turns for long hours just to file a form complete the registration. But, the coming in of all the technological advancements and their incorporation for legal procedures has been of great benefit and relief to the government, making it easier for them to maintain records. Also, it has saved the time of all the individuals who had to visit the office for all the legal proceedings including the filing of TDS.

What is TRACES?

The full form of TRACES is TDS Reconciliation Analysis and Correction Enabling System. It is an online portal through which the income tax proceedings related to TDS TRACES Form 16B, Form 16A, and Form 26AS are carried out. One can view and download key tax documents such as Form 16A, Form 16 and Form 26AS.

Use of the TRACES portal

The TRACES portal is used for all the below-mentioned activities. But not limit to all of these, and can be useful for several other purposes as well. These include:

• Viewing and downloading Form 26AS
• Correcting the TDS/TCS documents
• Viewing, checking and correcting the challan status
• Checking the status of tax statements
• Submission of refund request at the TRACES portal
• For the TDS deductors, download the justification report
• Correct the previously file TDS returns online

TRACES registration for the taxpayer: The complete procedure

To access the services mentioned above through the TRACES portal, all the individuals must get the TRACES registration done at the portal. The steps involved for TRACES registration are as follows:

• Open the TRACES website to get the TDS TRACES registration done through the link of the portal
• Next, on the webpage, on the left side in the login section, click on the option “Register as a new user”.
• Under this, the individual can register as a taxpayer, deductor or PAO (Pay and Accounts Office).
• For registration as a taxpayer, click on the taxpayer tab.
• A new page opens up, where you register as a new user.
• On this page, the individual needs to fill in the following details:

1. PAN details

2. Date of Birth (DOB)

3. Taxpayer’s name

4. TDS deduction/collection details

5. Challan details

6. Details of form 26QB

• After filling in all the details, click on the option “Create Account”. A screen appears asking for the confirmation of all the details submitted.
• After the confirmation, one must submit all the details including the activation link and code on the register mail address and phone number.

TRACES registration for deductor

The steps for the TDS TRACES registration for deductor are as follows:

• Open the TRACES website.



• On the login column, click on the option of “Register as New User”.
• Next, from the various tabs, click on the “Deductor” tab.



• Fill in the required details on the page.
• After filling in the details, click on the submit option to complete the registration.
• Further, after completion of the TDS TRACES registration, an activation link and code is sent on the registered mail address and mobile number.
• One can use the credentials to log in on the TRACES portal.

TDS TRACES Form 16B: Download through the portal

The TDS TRACES form 16B has to be submitted by the individuals after the TDS payment of tax on the immovable property. The TDS TRACES form 16B can be downloaded through the TRACES portal through the following steps:

• Open the TRACES portal.



• Login using your credentials.



• Under the downloads section, choose form 16B.
• After downloading the form 16B, it can be submitted to the government or used as per the requirements.

What is Traces Justification Report?

This report specifies the errors/defaults that a deductor needs to rectify. The rectification can follow by filing a statement of correction along with paying the requisite fees.

How to correct TDS/TCS statements on TRACES

You can do the corrections for Personal Information, Deductee details, Challan correction, etc online. Here are the steps:

1. Go to the TRACES website.

2.Under defaults Tab, choose ‘Request for correction’

3. Put the details, i.e. quarter, financial year, form type. And also the recent accepted token number. Choose the category as ‘Online’.

4. Now, you will get a request number.

5. The request will be available under “Track Correction Request”

6. When this status becomes “Available” click on Available/In progress and then proceed ahead with the correction

7. Fill valid KYC details.

8. Choose the ‘Challan Correction’ as a type of your category.

9. Do the corrections in the file

10. Click on “Submit for Processing”

11. 15 digits token number will be generated and sent to the registered mail id.