PAN, TDS and getting paid as an artist in India

Why a PAN is asked for first

Tax is deducted at source on royalty payments to residents in India, and the rate applied is higher when no PAN is on file than when one is. Providing it is therefore worth real money to you, not paperwork for us.

It is also how the deduction appears against your name rather than vanishing into a number you cannot reconcile later.

What deduction means in practice

Deducted tax is not a fee. It is part of your tax liability paid in advance on your behalf, and it appears against your PAN so it can be set against what you owe when you file.

It should always be shown to you rather than netted off silently. A statement that shows the gross, the deduction and the net is one you can hand to an accountant; a single number is not.

• Gross earned
• What was deducted
• What was transferred

Keep your own records

Save every statement. Note the period each covers. Keep bank records of what actually arrived, because a transfer date and a statement date are rarely the same day.

None of this is difficult if done monthly and unpleasant if left for a year.

GST is a separate question

Whether you need to register for GST depends on your total turnover across everything you do, not on any single platform. It is a question with a real answer for your situation, and a chartered accountant will give it in one conversation.

What we can and cannot tell you

We can tell you what you earned, what was deducted and when you were paid. We cannot advise you on what to file or whether to register for anything — not because it is secret, but because getting it wrong on your behalf would cost you.

Reconcile monthly, not annually

Every statement should be checkable against your bank. Doing that as each one arrives takes a minute; doing a year of them in March takes a weekend and finds errors too late to query.

Keep the statement, the date the money arrived, and the amount. Those three things answer almost every question an accountant will ask.

Separate the money early

A separate account for work income makes every subsequent question easier — what you earned, what arrived, what was deducted. Mixed with household spending it becomes an afternoon of forensic scrolling.

It costs nothing to open and it is the single most useful administrative habit a freelancer can adopt.

How to start

Everything runs through one place. Artists sign in at the artist studio, upload work, choose which products each piece suits, and see what they have earned. Customers browse the artwork, pick a design, and choose what to put it on.

Nothing about it is exclusive. You can sell the same work elsewhere at the same time, and there is no listing fee and no minimum.

• Apply with three pieces so we can see how you work
• Choose which products each design belongs on
• Get paid by bank transfer on what sells

Common questions