I'm buying a property — do I have to deduct tax before paying the seller?

Yes — for property at or above a prescribed value, the duty to deduct tax sits with you, the buyer, not the seller. Under the Income-tax Act, 2025 this is section 393 (formerly section 194-IA of the 1961 Act). You hold back a small percentage of each payment, deposit it against the seller's PAN through an online challan-cum-statement — Form 141 (formerly Form 26QB) — using your own PAN, with no separate TAN needed, and then give the seller a TDS certificate in Form 132 (formerly Form 16B). It's a light step, but a real one — and an easy one to overlook in the middle of a purchase.

The mechanics reward a little care. The deduction is worked out on the full price — or the stamp-duty value, where that is higher — not on the seller's gain, and where you pay in instalments it applies to each instalment rather than only at registration. Each deposit has a short deadline, counted from the end of the month in which you deduct. The seller's PAN needs to be correct and operative: if it is missing or inoperative, the law requires deduction at a much higher rate. Handled as part of the payment schedule, none of this causes friction; left as an afterthought, it can mean interest, fees and corrections.

Two situations deserve a moment's thought before you sign. When buying jointly, the value limit is judged on the property as a whole, not on each buyer's share, and each buyer deducts and files for their own portion. When the seller is a non-resident, a different and heavier deduction applies — higher rates on the full price, unless the seller obtains a lower-deduction certificate. Since 1 October 2026, resident individual and HUF buyers can report these deductions through the same Form 141 using their PAN, but the rate and paperwork still differ, so it is worth confirming the seller's residential status early. We can guide buyers through the deduction, the deposit and the certificate as part of the purchase.