Form 15G/15H is gone: how to file Form 121 so your bank stops cutting TDS

Short answer: Forms 15G and 15H no longer exist. From the 2026-27 tax year, you file Form 121 instead: a single declaration, under section 393(6) of the Income-tax Act, 2025, that the tax on your estimated total income is nil. Give it to every payer that would otherwise deduct TDS, such as your bank or post office, before the interest is credited.

Everything below is taken from the Income Tax Department's Form 121 FAQs and guidance note. This isn't tax advice. If you're unsure whether your tax will be nil, check before you sign: Form 121 is a statutory declaration.

What changed, and what didn't

The tax department says the merger cuts duplication, splits fields more clearly (PAN, name and so on), and makes the form easier to file electronically.

Who can file Form 121?

According to the FAQs:

• Individuals aged 60 or more: you can file if the tax on your estimated total income for the tax year is nil.
• Individuals below 60, HUFs, trusts and other persons: you need both of these:
  1. the tax on your estimated total income is nil, and
  2. the total of the incomes you're declaring (the ones TDS applies to) doesn't exceed the maximum amount not chargeable to tax.
• Companies and firms can't file it.

For most incomes on the list, the person receiving the income must be a resident. Not sure? The Form 121 eligibility checker walks you through these rules in under a minute.

Which incomes does it cover?

Bank, co-operative bank and post office interest, plus interest from other specified payers. Also interest on securities, dividends from a domestic company, mutual fund units, rent from a specified person, insurance commission, payments under a life insurance policy, and the accumulated EPF balance paid out to you.

How to submit it

1. Get the form from your payer. Banks and insurers publish their own copies (LIC's is linked below), and many banks let you submit it in net banking. The tax department says online submission through the payer's portal is preferred, but paper works too.
2. Fill in Part A, the declarant's part: your PAN, name and address, your estimated total income, and the incomes you want paid without TDS. Also mention any other Form 121s you've already filed this year.
3. Submit it to each payer separately. If you have FDs in two banks, each bank needs its own Form 121.
4. Do it early. The FAQs say to submit before the income is credited, ideally at the start of the tax year. A late form can mean TDS is deducted, and then you have to claim a refund.
5. The payer handles Part B. It verifies your declaration, allots a 26-character UIN, and reports it to the tax department by the 7th of the month after the quarter ends.

You'll need: a valid, operative PAN (mandatory), proof of age if you're 60 or above, and details of your income and investments.

About that “Form 121 PDF download”

There's no single “download and submit anywhere” PDF. Each payer collects the form, verifies it and reports it under its own TAN, so use the version your bank, post office or insurer gives you. The Income Tax Department's guidance note and FAQs explain every field.

Coming next year

Under the Finance Act, 2026, from 1 April 2027 you'll be able to file Form 121 electronically with a depository for income from listed securities, units and dividends held there.