TDS Return File Validator (FVU Pre-check)
Find what the FVU will reject — line, field and the fix — before you run it.
Statement file
Or paste the file’s contents
No file handy? — a made-up Form No. 140 statement with deliberate mistakes.
Result
Problems
No problems found against the published file format. Run the official FVU with the challan .csi file before you upload.
Line
| No. | Field | Value in the file |
|---|
By section
| Section code | Provision | Rows | Amount paid | Tax deducted | Tax deposited |
|---|
Interest for late deduction or deposit (indicative)
Section 398(3)(a) of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (201(1A) of the 1961 Act): 1% a month from the date of payment or credit to the date of deduction, and 1.5% a month from deduction to deposit when the deposit is after the due date. TCS in Form 27EQ (FY 2025-26 and earlier): 1% a month from the date it was collectible to the date it was paid, when it was collected or paid late (section 206C(7) of the 1961 Act). Each calendar month in which part of the period falls counts as a month.
| Row | Deductee | Why | Months | Interest |
|---|
Explain an FVU message
Tax rules and rates change. This calculator follows the rules described on this page and may not cover every situation. Check the official source or a qualified tax professional before filing or invoicing.
About the TDS Return File Validator (FVU Pre-check)
Quarterly TDS and TCS statements are filed as a caret-delimited text file that Protean’s File Validation Utility (FVU) turns into the .fvu file you upload. When the FVU rejects a file, its error report gives line and field numbers, and finding the mistake in a file of thousands of lines is slow. This validator reads the same .txt — made by any TDS software, the Protean RPU or by hand — and checks it against the published file format for the form and year: record order and counts, the number of ^ delimiters, field types and lengths, mandatory and must-be-empty fields, PAN and TAN structure, section codes, remarks, dates within the quarter, and whether each challan covers its deductee rows.
It covers the Tax Year 2026-27 forms under the Income-tax Act, 2025 — Form No. 140 (residents, non-salary, was 26Q), 138 (salary, first three quarters), 144 (non-residents) and 143 (TCS) — and the FY 2025-26 and earlier 26Q, 24Q, 27Q and 27EQ. Every problem is explained in plain words with the line, the deductee or challan, the field and the value found. The file is read on this device and never uploaded.
How to use it
- Choose the statement
.txt(the file you would give the FVU), or paste its contents into the box. Try the example to see a file with deliberate mistakes (a challan total that does not add up, a PAN typo, a 1961-Act section code and a payment outside the quarter). - Read the result. Errors break the published rules, so the FVU would reject the file; warnings are worth a look (a rate that does not match the amounts, a deposit date that differs from the challan).
- Each problem names the line, the challan and deductee row, the field number and its name, and the value found. Show line lists every field of that record with the problem fields marked.
- Fix the data in your TDS software, export a new
.txtand check it again. - Run the official FVU with the challan
.csifile from the challan status enquiry before you upload. Paste an FVU error line into Explain an FVU message to jump to that line here.
Examples
Line 41: 44 fields instead of 45
Error: the record has 44 fields (43 delimiters); Form No. 140 deductee records have 45, so every field after the gap is shifted
Form No. 140, Q2 of Tax Year 2026-27, section code 94J
Error: “94J” is not a section code of Form No. 140 — the 2025 Act codes are four digits (1027 for professional fees)
Challan ₹6,000; its deductee rows deposit ₹5,500 + ₹550
Error: the challan amount is less than the tax deposited for its deductees (₹6,050). Move a row to another challan or correct the amounts
Deductee PAN ABCPE1234F, remark C, 20% deducted
Error: remark C (higher rate for no PAN) is allowed only with PANAPPLIED, PANINVALID or PANNOTAVBL
What is checked
- Records and counts: one file header (FH) and one batch header (BH), each challan (CD) followed by its deductee rows (DD); the counts of challans and deductees, the batch total and line numbers 1, 2, 3… without gaps.
- Fields: the exact number of fields per record, digits-only fields, amounts written as the format asks (
1000.00, whole rupees with.00in challan totals, rates as2.0000), real dates inddmmyyyyand none in the future, maximum lengths, mandatory fields and fields that must stay empty. - Identifiers: TAN and PAN structure (the 4th PAN character is the holder’s status), PANAPPLIED / PANINVALID / PANNOTAVBL where the PAN is missing, e-mail addresses, state codes, PIN codes, deductor types and the government-only fields (State name, ministry, AIN).
- Challans: income tax + interest + fee + others = total; BSR code of 7 digits, challan serial number of up to 5 digits, minor head; nil challans dated the last day of the quarter with a remark on every deductee; the challan amount covering the tax deposited for its deductees plus the interest, fee and others claimed from it.
- Deductees: section codes of the form and year, payment dates within the quarter, deduction dates, deducted and deposited amounts, remarks allowed with the section (for example T only for contractors, B only for incomes that take a declaration), the certificate number with remark A, and the fields Forms 144 and 143 add (status, nature of remittance, country, collectee code).
- Warnings from the Act (not rules of the file format, so the FVU does not reject them): tax at least 20% (5% for goods and e-commerce) with remark C or without a PAN on payments to residents, and TCS at 5% or more with remark C; a rate that does not match the amounts; all-zero BSR codes or challan serial numbers.
Forms and years
From Tax Year 2026-27 the statements are Form No. 138 for salary, 140 for other payments to residents, 144 for non-residents and 143 for tax collected at source (rule 219(1) of the Income-tax Rules, 2026); they use FVU 1.2 and the four-digit section codes of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (1027 professional fees, 1024 contractors other than individuals, 1009 rent of land or buildings…). Statements for FY 2025-26 and earlier keep Forms 24Q, 26Q, 27Q and 27EQ with the 1961-Act codes (4JB, 94C, 4IB…). The validator picks the form and year from the batch header and applies that format; it tells you when the form and the year do not belong together.
The statements are due by 31 July, 31 October, 31 January and 31 May for the four quarters (rule 219(4); rule 31A for the TDS statements of FY 2025-26 and earlier). The TCS statement of those years, Form 27EQ, is due on the 15th instead: 15 July, 15 October, 15 January and 15 May (rule 31AA; the dates are also in Protean’s FAQ on furnishing statements). The summary shows the due date and, if today is later, the fee of ₹200 a day under section 427 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (234E of the 1961 Act), capped at the tax in the statement.
Sources
File formats, FVU and RPU: Protean e-TDS/TCS regular return downloads — the file formats for Form Number 138 (Q1 to Q3), 140, 144 and 143, and for Forms 24Q, 26Q, 27Q and 27EQ. Forms and due dates: rules 218 and 219 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026; for FY 2025-26 and earlier, rules 30, 31A, 31AA and 37CA of the Income-tax Rules, 1962, and the due dates in Protean’s FAQ. Interest and fee: sections 398(3) and 427 of the Income-tax Act, 2025; for FY 2025-26 and earlier, sections 201(1A), 206C(7) and 234E of the Income-tax Act, 1961.
Limitations
- Regular statements only. Correction statements (upload type C) use other layouts and are not checked.
- Form No. 138 for the fourth quarter and the fourth-quarter salary annexure of Form 24Q are checked for structure only where the layout is published; their salary computations are not re-worked.
- The FVU also matches every challan with the bank’s data in the
.csifile from the challan status enquiry. No offline tool can do that, so check the BSR code, date, serial number and amount against the challan. - It checks the format and the internal arithmetic, not whether the right amount of tax was deducted for each payment — use the TDS calculator for that.
- A file that passes here can still fail a rule the published format does not spell out. The FVU is the final check.
Privacy
The statement is read in this browser and never uploaded or stored. Closing the page discards it.
Frequently asked questions
Does this replace the FVU?
No. Upload requires the .fvu file that only Protean’s FVU makes, after it checks the challans against the .csi file. This tool finds format and arithmetic mistakes first, with plain explanations, so the FVU run passes sooner.
What do the field numbers mean?
They are the field numbers of Protean’s file format, counted from 1 in each record. In a Form No. 140 deductee record, field 8 is the PAN, field 15 the section code, field 19 the date of payment and field 24 the tax deducted. Show line lists all fields of a record with their names.
Which statement do I file for Tax Year 2026-27?
Form No. 140 for TDS on payments to residents other than salary, 138 for salary, 144 for payments to non-residents and 143 for TCS. For FY 2025-26 and earlier quarters the old Forms 26Q, 24Q, 27Q and 27EQ still apply.
The FVU still rejects a file that passes here. Why?
Usually because of the challan check: the BSR code, challan serial number, date or amount in the file does not match the bank’s record in the .csi file, or the .csi file belongs to another TAN. Paste the FVU’s error line into Explain an FVU message to see that line here.
Is my data safe?
The file is read in your browser; nothing is uploaded, and nothing is kept after you close the page.