India Audit Lens
Manage TDS certificates and filing history
Certificate generation and delivery have two different levels of support in the current product: 24Q can prepare Part B and package it with an imported TRACES Part A, while government-signed bulk issuance, DSC…
By India Audit Lens product team · Updated 2026-07-17
Prepare Form 16 packages for 24Q
Open the client's TDS/TCS workspace for the correct TAN and financial year. Open 24Q, then the relevant quarter and Ack → Form 16. Confirm employee and final salary computation data, especially the Q4 Annexure-II position. Download Part A files from TRACES using the approved external process. Import the TRACES Part-A ZIP. Review PAN matching and resolve missing/unmatched Part A files. Generate the per-employee or all-employee package. If password protection is offered, use the firm-approved delivery policy. Open the ZIP and verify that Part A remains the authoritative TRACES document and…
Review Form 16A/16/27D issuance gates
For non-salary forms, Ack → Certificates may show a request/poll/download job path as well as a separate gated certificate card. Because the verified baseline also states that bulk issuance requires client TRACES credentials, a DSC host, and explicit opt-in:
Treat the screen as gated unless the platform owner has qualified the exact operation for the firm and form. Never save TRACES credentials in notes, screenshots, documentation, or support tickets. Do not run a live certificate request merely because username/password fields are visible. Use the approved TRACES process to obtain the government-signed certificate. Verify the downloaded document, signature, deductee, PAN, period, amounts, and certificate type before controlled delivery.
Bulk email for Form 16 is also NOTREADY in the verified baseline. Package creation is not proof of delivery.
Review filing history and acknowledgements
Open Filings and select the TAN/FY/form/quarter. Review the lifecycle state and stored TXT, FVU, receipt, Form 27A, and certificate artifacts where available. Open Ack → Receipt for the return. Compare the receipt/provisional receipt number, time, form, quarter, FY, and TAN to the external portal record. Preserve the maker-checker log, artifact version, receipt, correction lineage, and delivery evidence under the firm's retention policy. Treat a queued/pending provider job as pending. Treat an internal status without a matching external receipt as unconfirmed.
Expected result
The certificate package is correctly assembled or obtained through a qualified external route, and every return described as filed has a matching external acknowledgement and traceable artifact history.