The Tax Questions Every Freelance Crew Member in India Asks Too Late

Nobody becomes a gaffer because they enjoy tax law. But the freelance crew who lose money to it rarely lose it through complexity — they lose it by not knowing three thresholds, and by not claiming tax that was already deducted on their behalf.

This is a plain-language orientation, not tax advice. Rules change and circumstances differ; a chartered accountant who understands freelance income is worth the fee.

When do you have to register for GST?

Registration becomes mandatory once your total service income crosses Rs 20 lakh in a financial year. In special category states the threshold is Rs 10 lakh.

Below that, you can invoice without a GST number legitimately. This is the point most often got wrong in both directions: crew who register unnecessarily and inherit filing obligations they did not need, and crew who cross the threshold mid-year and do not notice.

What is TDS and why is your invoice short?

Under Section 194J, a client deducting tax at source withholds 10% of professional fees once their payments to you exceed Rs 50,000 in a financial year.

That threshold is recent. The Finance Act 2025 raised it from Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000, effective 1 April 2025 — which means a single small job for a new client no longer triggers deduction the way it used to.

The money is not lost. It is deposited against your PAN.

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Is TDS deducted on the GST amount too?

No. TDS is calculated on the taxable value, not on the GST you added, because GST is not your income — you are collecting it on the government's behalf.

If your invoice is Rs 1,00,000 plus GST, the 10% is deducted against the Rs 1,00,000, not the gross. Clients get this wrong often enough that it is worth stating on the invoice itself.

What is Section 44ADA and do film crew qualify?

44ADA is presumptive taxation: rather than tracking every expense, you declare 50% of turnover as income and pay tax on that, with the other half treated as deemed expenses. It is available up to Rs 75 lakh of turnover.

Film artists are named among the specified professions eligible for it. That is genuinely useful for crew whose real expenses fall well below half their billings, and less useful for those carrying heavy kit costs — a cinematographer servicing a camera package may be better off accounting properly and claiming the actual expenditure.

The trade-off is simplicity against accuracy, and which way it falls depends on your equipment.

How do you actually get your TDS back?

Check Form 26AS and the Annual Information Statement. Both show what has been deducted and deposited against your PAN. You then claim it when filing, and it either reduces the tax you owe or comes back as a refund.

Crew who do not file at all because their income was "already taxed" are the ones who lose most. The deduction is a payment on account, not a settlement.

What should you put on the invoice?

• Your PAN, and GSTIN if registered
• Taxable value and GST shown separately, so the client deducts correctly
• A clear service description — professional or technical service determines the section
• Your bank details, and the payment terms you actually intend to enforce

The habit worth building

Keep a running total per client across the financial year, not per job. Both thresholds that matter — the Rs 50,000 TDS trigger and the Rs 20 lakh GST line — are annual and cumulative, and they arrive without warning if you are only ever looking at the invoice in front of you.