Dr GK Awasthi (name changed), 55, had a tough time getting a refund of the tax deducted against his fixed deposits with public sector banks, as the tax deduction at source (TDS) certificates issued to him by the banks did not mention his permanent account number (PAN). Depositors of banks and post offices especially pensioners are put to a lot of trouble at the time of filing tax returns and claiming refunds, as these organisations often issue incomplete or incorrect certificates.

Banks and post offices file quarterly TDS returns for deductions they make against the interest paid to customers on savings in fixed deposit schemes.

"There're cases of errors, omissions or quoting of wrong PAN in quarterly returns filed by the deductors. And post offices and banks are the most common culprits. This delays refunds and tax payers suffer," remarked chartered accountant & I-T consultant Kuldip Rai Aggarwal.

There are instances of tax being deducted at source without the deductor submitting it to the I-T department. In other cases, mandatory information like PAN and amount deducted were not mentioned.

Amending the TDS rules, Central Board of Direct Taxes has revised TDS certificate forms to include receipt number of the TDS return filed by the deductor.

Now, Tax Deduction Account Number (TAN), PAN of deductee and receipt number will form unique identification for allowing tax credit claimed.

Agreeing to pensioners' allegations, a senior bank official blamed clerical errors'. "Department of Posts is taking corrective action in this matter and we're trying to streamline the process," chief postmaster general, Rameshwari Handa said.