BSR Code - Basic Statistical Return Codes

What does BSR mean?

BSR Code is issued by the Reserve Bank of India to all Indian banks. It consists of seven digits code with first three digits identifying the bank and remaining four digits identifying the branch. BSR is used while filling the TDS and TCS (Tax reduction at source and Tax collected at source) returns. It helps the bank to keep record of every online payment done for tax and this record helps the income tax department to receive the information about the payments through banks. It is not used in payment systems but mainly finds use in tax receipts at banks end and at Government’s end.

How are BSR Codes classified?

Basic Statistical Codes are classified according to the overall pattern of the statistical reporting system envisaged by the committee which, taken together, was designated to provide a steady flow of the required data.

  • BSR 1 – Return on Advances (half-yearly) from all branches on the last Friday of June and December. It’s in two parts – Part I for accounts with limits over Rs.10000 and Part II for accounts with limits of Rs.10000 and less.
  • BSR 2 – Return Deposits (half-yearly) from all branches on the last Friday of June and December.
  • BSR 3 – Return Advances (monthly) against the Security of Selected Sensitive Commodities from Head Offices on last Friday of each month.
  • BSR 4 – Return on Ownership of Bank Deposits (once in two years) from all branches (replacing present annual survey from head offices) on the last Friday of March.
  • BSR 5 – Return on Bank Investments (annual) from Head Office (on the lines of Survey of Bank Investments) on the last day of March.
  • BSR 6 – Survey on Debits to Deposits Accounts (Quin-quennial) from April to March of the year.
  • BSR 7 – Survey on Aggregate Deposits and Gross Bank Credit (Quarterly) by head offices of the bank as on last Friday of June, September and December, and as on March 31.

What are the significance and the benefits of BSR Codes?

  • Taxation: BSR codes has a significant aid in the Income Tax Department's initiative to receive information and to keep track the records of tax paid through banks, through online upload of challan details, named as OLTAS (Online Tax Accounting System).
  • International Taxation: International Taxation, revolving around the Certification work, upholds the requirement of Code of the bank through which the remittance is to be made. This is used to track the flow of remittances made by a resident into a foreign country. If the remittance takes place through a Foreign Bank located in India, yet the code becomes compulsory.
  • Benefit for Senior Citizens: The benefit of the BSR Code assists the senior citizens in getting their pensions without any difficulty who were once the employees of Government of India. In addition, it also locates the details of a particular bank branch. In order to receive their pensions, the pensioners have to inform their bank branch and provide their Bank Account number with the BSR Code.

Where is BSR code used?

Basic Statistical Return codes are generally assigned by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and are regulated for banks where TDS challan is paid. The BSR code appears on the TDS certificates. It is mandatory to quote the BSR code both in challan details and in the deduct details. BSR codes are used in CIN (Challan Identification Number) which will be unique for each challan and are used for identifying challan in the OLATS(Online tax accounting system).

What is the difference between IFSC Code & BSR Code?

The difference between IFSC code & BSR code is that it can be used in context to Indian financial system codes. IFSC and BSR codes are used to represent the branch of a bank uniquely. Therefore, confusion may arise that if they share the basic definition then what is the difference between IFSC Code & BSR Code. The difference is not only in the number of characters that are used to represent the code but also they are used in different systems.

What is the purpose of BSR Code in CIN?

Challan Identification Number (CIN) is a 20 digit unique identifier number provided on the Taxpayer’s Counterfoil. The purpose of BSR code in CIN is that iit is used as a combination alongwith the date of deposit (8 digits) and Challan Serial Number (5 digits).CIN is stamped on the acknowledgement receipt to uniquely identify the tax payment. Users must ensure that CIN is stamped on the Challan by the bank. This is important in context to Income Tax department as the challan details comprising of CIN are also uploaded. This helps the department to maintain the records associated to online payment of tax through banks.

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