future explains sandeep shanbhag director wonderland consultants err on the side of caution the tds rules can be cumbersome but you just have to take them in your stride the forms 15g and 15h have to be submitted at every branch of the bank where you have a deposit though the threshold limit of rs 10000 a year is per branch some banks insist on a form to be submitted even when the interest is less than rs 10000 in that branch a bank can track you using the unique customer id if the combined interest in all branches is above the rs 10000 limit tds will be deducted if you have not filled the form 15g or 15h it is best to provide the form than risk tds once the tax has been deducted it can only be reclaimed by filing your income tax return the worst affected are investors who are not eligible to file form 15g because their interest income is above the threshold limit even though their total taxable income is not liable to tax one option for such people is to allow the banks to deduct the tds they can then reclaim the amount by filing their tax returns this is a cumbersome process and therefore not worth undertaking the second option is to split the fixed deposits across several banks and branches so that the tds exemption limit is not breached this is no less tedious because you will have to go to multiple locations besides it increases your paperwork manifold there may also be cases of a small tax liability which makes an investor ineligible for filing these forms you can handle this by letting one bank deduct the tds so that the amount takes care of your total tax liability however note that the above strategies are only meant to avoid tds not avoid tax or file your tax return you may be required to file your tax return if your total income before the deductions is above the basic tax exemption limit besides there is a stiff penalty for furnishing incorrect information in the form just to avoid the tds