Opened an FD in your wife's name and TDS was deducted? Find out who gets the tax credit..

After retirement, people often open Fixed Deposits (FDs) in their wives' names to save tax or secure their investments. However, a complication arises when the bank deducts TDS (Tax Deducted at Source) on the interest earned from that FD. This leads to confusion regarding who should claim the deducted tax—the husband or the wife.
According to income tax rules, if you invest money in your wife's name, the interest earned on it is added to your (the husband's) income under 'clubbing provisions'.

Can the wife submit a form to avoid TDS deduction?

Speaking to Moneycontrol, tax and investment expert Balwant Jain explained that under certain conditions, income tax laws allow for the submission of a declaration to avoid TDS deduction. This facility is available to senior citizens if their total income does not attract any tax liability. However, in this specific scenario, the wife is not considered the actual taxpayer for the FD. Even though the FD is in her name, the interest income is clubbed with her husband's income. Therefore, the wife cannot submit the form required to prevent TDS deduction.

So, how can the deducted TDS amount be recovered?