eTDS इ-टीडीएस
eTDS stands for electronic Tax Deducted at Source. It is the Inland Revenue Department's electronic format for withholding returns, and it reports, employee by employee and against each personal PAN, how much tax the employer withheld and deposited for the period.
Also called: e-TDS, e TDS, electronic TDS Nepal, withholding return Nepal, IRD eTDS
Key facts
- Defined by
- Inland Revenue DepartmentThe layout is the IRD's, not the vendor's.
- Frequency
- MonthlyAlongside the withholding deposit.
- Keyed on
- Recipient PANOne line per employee or payee.
- Covers
- Every TDS paymentSalary, plus rent, interest, service charges and contracts.
- Submitted through
- The IRD taxpayer portalUnder the employer's own PAN.
- Legal basis
- Income Tax Act 2058, s.90The statement of tax withheld.
What the return contains
The eTDS return is the detail behind the deposit. The deposit is one figure; the return breaks that figure down by employee, each identified by their personal PAN, so the tax office can credit each individual with the tax withheld from their salary.
An employee missing from the return, or listed against a wrong PAN, has effectively had tax deducted that nobody has credited to them. That surfaces much later, usually when the employee needs proof of tax paid.
It covers more than salary
Section 90(1) of the Income Tax Act 2058 asks for every payment the withholding agent withheld tax from in the month, under sections 87, 88 and 89. Salary is section 87. Interest, rent, royalty and service charges are section 88, and contract payments are section 89. A company that withholds tax from its office rent or a consultant's fee reports those payments as well, with each recipient's name, address and PAN where they have one.
eTDS in Nepali, and where it is filed
In Nepali, TDS is स्रोतमा कर कट्टी (srotma kar katti), literally tax deducted at the source. The return is what section 90 of the Income Tax Act calls कट्टी गरिएको करको विवरण (katti gariyeko kar ko bibaran), the statement of tax withheld. eTDS is that statement filed electronically, and Nepali writing usually keeps the English letters: इ-टीडीएस.
It is filed on the Inland Revenue Department's taxpayer portal, linked from the ird.gov.np home page as करदाता पोर्टल (karadata portal). The employer files as the withholding agent, under the company's own PAN; the employees' PANs appear inside the return, one per line.
Generating the file and submitting it are two steps
A payroll system produces the eTDS file in the IRD's layout. Submission through the taxpayer portal is a separate act, done by the taxpayer or by the agent they authorise. It is worth being precise about which of the two your process covers, because assuming the software did the second one is how a month gets missed.
What makes a clean return
- Every employee has a verified personal PAN on file before their first payroll run.
- Names on the return match the names on the PAN certificates.
- Leavers are reported for the months they were actually paid in, and not after.
- The sum of the return's lines equals the amount deposited, to the rupee.
eTDS, answered
eTDS is short for electronic Tax Deducted at Source. TDS is the tax an employer withholds from a payment before making it; the leading e marks the return being filed electronically, in the Inland Revenue Department's own format, rather than on paper.
It is the Inland Revenue Department's electronic format for withholding returns. It reports the tax withheld from each employee's salary against that employee's personal PAN, alongside the monthly deposit.
TDS is the tax itself: the amount withheld from a salary or other payment before it is paid out. eTDS is the electronic return that reports it to the Inland Revenue Department, payment by payment and against each recipient's PAN. An employer does both every month, and the total in the return should equal the tax deposited.
TDS is स्रोतमा कर कट्टी (srotma kar katti) in Nepali. The return eTDS files is the कट्टी गरिएको करको विवरण (katti gariyeko kar ko bibaran), the statement of tax withheld under section 90 of the Income Tax Act 2058. Most Nepali writing simply says इ-टीडीएस.
On the Inland Revenue Department's taxpayer portal, linked from ird.gov.np as करदाता पोर्टल. The employer files under its own PAN as the withholding agent, not under any employee's PAN.
Monthly, with the withholding deposit that is due within 25 days of the end of each month.
Producing the file in the IRD's format and submitting it through the taxpayer portal are separate steps. Check which one your process covers, and who is authorised to do the submission.
- Inland Revenue Department published eTDS specification and taxpayer portal procedures.
- Income Tax Act 2058, sections 87, 88, 89 and 90(1), English text from the Nepal Law Commission as published by ICAN (en.ican.org.np), read 2026-11-04. The Nepali heading of section 90, कट्टी गरिएको करको विवरण र भुक्तानी, from the Nepali text at nepallaws.com.
- Taxpayer portal link: the ird.gov.np home page, checked 2026-11-04.
This page explains general practice in Nepal. It is not legal or tax advice, and statutory figures are revised from time to time. Check the current Act, rule or notice before acting on it.
Put it into practice
Related terms
- TDS (Tax Deducted at Source)स्रोतमा कर कट्टीTDS is income tax withheld by the employer from an employee's salary each month and deposited with the Inland Revenue Department on the employee's behalf. It is calculated on annual projected income and spread across the year, not charged month by month in isolation.
- Inland Revenue Department (IRD)आन्तरिक राजस्व विभागIRD stands for Inland Revenue Department (आन्तरिक राजस्व विभाग), Nepal's tax administration, responsible for income tax, VAT and excise. For payroll it is the body that publishes the tax slabs, issues PANs, receives monthly withholding deposits and defines the eTDS format.
- PAN (Permanent Account Number)स्थायी लेखा नम्बरPAN लाई नेपालीमा स्थायी लेखा नम्बर (sthayi lekha number) भनिन्छ। यो आन्तरिक राजस्व विभागले करदातालाई दिने नौ अङ्कको परिचय नम्बर हो। PAN stands for Permanent Account Number: the nine-digit taxpayer identification number issued by Nepal's Inland Revenue Department. Every employee needs a personal PAN for the tax withheld from their salary to be credited to them, and every employer needs a business PAN to deposit it.
- Payroll Cycleतलब चक्रThe payroll cycle is the repeating sequence a company runs each pay period: collect attendance and leave, calculate earnings and deductions, approve, pay, and file. In Nepal it runs on Bikram Sambat months and carries a statutory deadline at the end.
Stop looking this up. Let the system apply it.
NepalHRM applies Nepal's payroll, leave and attendance rules per employee, every run, so the policy in your handbook and the numbers on the payslip stay the same document.
- No minimum commitment
- Nepal IRD compliant
- Free onboarding
- Cancel anytime