Section 401
Section 401: bar against direct demand on the assessee
Section 401 is a short but important taxpayer protection - once tax has actually been deducted at source from an assessee's income, the tax department cannot separately call upon the assessee to pay that same tax again, even if the deductor fails to deposit it.
What Section 401 says
"Where tax is deductible at the source under this Chapter, the assessee shall not be called upon to pay the tax himself to the extent to which tax has been deducted from that income."
Frequently asked questions
If my employer deducts TDS but does not deposit it, can the tax department demand it from me?
No - to the extent tax has actually been deducted from your income, Section 401 bars the department from calling upon you to pay that tax directly; the recovery action instead falls on the deductor under Section 398.
Related sections
Want this applied to your actual filing, not just explained?
Get help responding to a tax demand despite TDS deductionLast updated 9 September 2026