What is TRACES registration for?
TRACES registration is what gives an employer access to everything that happens to a TDS return after it is filed. Filing happens elsewhere. TRACES is where the return is reconciled, where defaults are raised against it, where Form 16 and Form 16A are generated, and where corrections are made. Without a registered TAN none of that is reachable.
It is done once per TAN. The portal will not register the same TAN a second time, which matters when the person who registered has left and nobody knows the credentials.
What has to exist before you can register?
Registration is validated against a statement that has already been filed, so the sequence runs the other way round from what people expect. The TAN needs a non nil statement filed and processed at the time of registration. A nil statement, defined as one reporting a challan or book entry with zero amount, does not satisfy this.
That is why a newly allotted TAN cannot be registered straight away. The first return has to be filed and processed first, and only then does the KYC validation have anything to check against.
Why does registration fail at the KYC step?
The financial year, form type and quarter for the KYC check are chosen by the portal and shown on screen. Against those the employer supplies the token number of the regular original statement and challan details from that statement, then valid PANs from it with the tax deposited against each.
The portal is specific about the combinations it will accept.
- A maximum of three distinct valid PANs with their deposited amounts are entered, and where the challan contains fewer than three such combinations all of them are entered.
- Only PANs reported in the statement against the challan given in the first part are accepted.
- Where the same challan appears more than once in the statement, the CD record number becomes mandatory.
A successful check produces an authentication code that stays valid for the rest of the same calendar day for that form type, financial year and quarter.
What is the 48 hour window?
Registering does not finish the job. An activation link goes to the registered email and activation codes go to the email and the mobile number, and the account has to be activated inside 48 hours of registration.
If the deadline passes, the account deactivates and the whole registration has to be done again. Inside the window a lost link can be resent by entering the TAN at step one of the registration form and submitting, which prompts the system to offer to resend the link and codes. The portal also suggests checking the spam folder of the registered email, which is where the activation mail commonly lands.
How to register a TAN on TRACES
On tdscpc.gov.in, signed in as the employer
Open TRACES and continue to the portal
Go to the TRACES website at www.tdscpc.gov.in. The homepage appears. Click Continue to proceed.
Register as a new user and choose the deductor category
Click Register as New User and select the type of user as Deductor, then click Proceed.
Enter the TAN
Provide the TAN in the field allotted to it, enter the captcha code as displayed, and click Proceed.
Enter the token number for KYC validation
The financial year, form type and quarter for the KYC check are populated by the portal. Enter the token number of the regular original statement corresponding to them. The portal instructs that this be typed manually rather than copied and pasted.
Enter challan and PAN details from the same statement
Enter the CIN details for a challan used in the statement, and the tax deposited amount for the relevant PANs. The CD record number is required only where the same challan is mentioned more than once in the statement. A government deductor without BIN details ticks the box provided and does not supply the BSR code and challan serial number.
Keep the PAN and amount combinations valid
A maximum of three distinct valid PANs and their deposited amounts are entered, and only PANs reported in the statement against the challan given above are accepted. Where the challan has fewer than three such combinations, all of them are entered. The authentication code generated on success stays valid for the same calendar day for that form type, financial year and quarter.
Fill in the organisation and authorised person details
Supply the category of deductor, the PAN of the deductor and the PAN and date of birth of the authorised person. The deductor PAN is populated from the TAN database where available. The authorised person has to be an individual, so the fourth character of that PAN is P, and the PAN has to be active at the time of registration. For a government deductor the PAN is not mandatory.
Choose the communication address
Address details can be populated from the TAN master or from the last accepted statement filed by the TAN, or entered directly. What is entered here is saved in TRACES only and does not update the TAN database, which is changed by submitting a TAN change request separately.
Create the user id and password
Enter a user id for the TAN account for the admin user and check its availability, then enter the same password in both password fields. The password needs a minimum of eight alphanumeric characters with at least one upper case letter. Click Create Account.
Confirm the registration
The confirmation screen displays the values entered in the previous screens. Edit returns to the organisation details step. Confirming submits the registration, and a success message confirms the TAN has been registered.
Activate the account within 48 hours
Open the activation link sent to the registered email, enter the user id, and enter activation code 1 from email and activation code 2 from the mobile number. Submitting these activates the account.
Log in as a deductor
Select the Deductor option and log in with the user id, password, TAN and the verification code shown on screen.
What goes wrong
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Invalid Details, or Your TAN is not available in the TAN master | The tutorial gives four reasons: no statement filed in the last eight quarters, only a nil statement filed, a statement filed but not yet processed by TRACES, or an invalid TAN. | Check that a non nil statement has been filed and has reached processed status before attempting registration again.TRACES e-Tutorial, Deductor Registration and Login |
| The account deactivated before it was activated | Activation has to be completed within 48 hours of registration. After that the account deactivates. | Register again on TRACES. Inside the window instead, enter the TAN at step one and submit, and the system offers to resend the activation link and codes. Check the spam folder of the registered email.TRACES e-Tutorial, Deductor Registration and Login |
| Wrong communication details were submitted during registration | Details entered at the address step are saved in TRACES and cannot be corrected mid registration. | Wait 48 hours. Once the account deactivates, register again as a new user with the correct details.TRACES e-Tutorial, Deductor Registration and Login |
| The TAN is already registered and nobody has the credentials | A TAN can be registered on TRACES only once, so a second registration is not available as a route back in. | Recover the existing account rather than registering again. The tutorial lists the TRACES helpline numbers and the Request for Resolution grievance route for account issues.TRACES e-Tutorial, Deductor Registration and Login |
Steps last read from the source documents on
Frequently asked questions
Can a new TAN register on TRACES immediately?
No. Registration validates KYC against a statement that has already been filed and processed, and a nil statement does not count. The first non nil return has to be filed and processed first.
What happens if I miss the 48 hour activation window?
The account deactivates and the registration has to be done again from the start. Inside the window, submitting the TAN at step one prompts the system to resend the activation link and codes.
Who can be the authorised person for a TRACES account?
Only an individual, which the tutorial expresses as the fourth character of the PAN being P. For an individual or proprietor the deductor PAN and the authorised person PAN may be the same. In other cases they differ.
Can the same TAN be registered twice?
No. A TAN can be registered on TRACES only once, so a lost account has to be recovered rather than replaced with a fresh registration.
Where Engage fits
Engage produces the quarterly TDS statement from the payroll run and keeps the deductee details that TRACES later reconciles against. The registration itself is a one time step on the portal. But the PANs and challan details it validates against come from the return, and those are only as clean as the payroll data behind them.
See Engage Payroll