TDS Return Filing & Compliance Calendar Under the Income Tax Act, 2025

Getting the TDS rate right is only half the job — deductors also have to file the correct return, on the correct form, by the correct due date, and issue the correct certificate to the deductee. From 1st April 2026, every one of these forms has a new number under the Income Tax Act, 2025. This guide is your one-stop compliance calendar for Tax Year 2026-27.

Why the Forms Changed

Under the Income Tax Act, 1961, TDS/TCS returns and certificates were tied to old section numbers — Form 24Q for Section 192, Form 26Q for the 194-series, Form 27Q for non-resident payments, and so on. Since the new Act consolidates all of those into Sections 392, 393 and 394, the return forms have been renumbered to match the new, section-agnostic, category-based structure.

Old Forms vs New Forms — Full Mapping

Purpose

Old Form (IT Act 1961)

New Form (IT Act 2025)

Quarterly TDS return — salary

Form 24Q

Form 138

Quarterly TDS return — resident, non-salary

Form 26Q

Form 140

Quarterly TDS return — non-resident payments

Form 27Q

Form 144

Quarterly TCS return

Form 27EQ

Form 143

Challan-cum-statement — property, rent, contractor payments by specified individuals, VDA transfer

Forms 26QB / 26QC / 26QD / 26QE

Form 141 (single consolidated form, with separate schedules)

TDS certificate — salary

Form 16

Form 130

TDS certificate — non-salary

Form 16A

Form 131

TDS certificate — property/rent (event-based)

Form 16B/16C/16D/16E

Form 132

TCS certificate

Form 27D

Form 133

Employee investment declaration

Form 12BB

Form 124

Employee tax regime declaration

— (new requirement)

Form 122

Self-declaration for nil TDS (interest, etc.)

Form 15G / Form 15H

Form 121

Application for lower/nil TDS certificate

Form 13

Form 128

Foreign remittance declaration

Form 15CA

Form 145

Chartered Accountant’s certificate for foreign remittance

Form 15CB

Form 146

Tax credit statement (equivalent of Form 26AS)

Form 26AS

Form 168

Keep this table pinned — it is the single most useful reference for any accounting or payroll team migrating systems for Tax Year 2026-27.

Quarterly TDS/TCS Return Due Dates (Tax Year 2026-27)

The quarterly filing pattern itself hasn’t changed:

Quarter

Period

Due Date

Q1

April – June

31st July

Q2

July – September

31st October

Q3

October – December

31st January

Q4

January – March

31st May

Form 141 (the event-based consolidated challan-cum-statement) does not follow this quarterly cycle — it must be filed within 30 days from the end of the month in which the deduction was made, regardless of quarter.

TDS Deposit Due Dates

Month of Deduction

Due Date for Deposit

April to February

7th of the following month

March

30th April

Deduction under Form 141 categories (property, rent, individual-payer categories)

Within 30 days of month-end, along with the statement

Certificate Issuance Timelines

Certificate

Deadline

Form 130 (salary, annual)

15th June following the tax year

Form 131 (non-salary, quarterly)

Within 15 days of filing the relevant quarterly return

Form 132 (property/rent, event-based)

Within 15 days of the Form 141 statement due date

Form 133 (TCS)

Within 15 days of filing Form 143

Certificates can only be generated through the TRACES portal — self-generated versions are not valid and won’t be accepted as proof of TDS credit.

Penalties for Delay

Default

Consequence

Late filing of quarterly return/statement

Fee of ₹200 for every day of delay, capped at the total TDS/TCS amount in that return (successor provision to Section 234E)

Non-deduction or late deduction of tax

Interest at 1% per month (or part) from the date tax was deductible to the date actually deducted

Deducted but not deposited on time

Interest at 1.5% per month (or part) from the date of deduction to the date of deposit

Incorrect particulars/non-filing

Separate penalty provisions apply, in addition to interest and late fees

Business-payer failure to deduct

Potential 30% disallowance of the related expense

A single day’s delay in deposit attracts a full month’s interest, since interest runs from the actual date of deduction — not from the 7th-of-the-month deadline. Missing the deposit deadline by even one day is disproportionately expensive; prioritise it over almost every other compliance task.

The Transition Year: What Changes Mid-Year

Because the new Act applies to transactions where the “earlier of payment or credit” falls on or after 1st April 2026, most deductors had to handle both old and new forms in the same calendar year during the transition:

•             Q4 of FY 2025-26 (January–March 2026): filed on the old forms (24Q/26Q/27Q/27EQ), due 31st May 2026.

•             Q1 of Tax Year 2026-27 (April–June 2026): filed on the new forms (138/140/144/143), due 31st July 2026.

Quoting an old section number or form on a return relating to a post-1st-April-2026 transaction will trigger validation errors on the TRACES/e-filing portal, since the system now expects the new numeric payment codes (in the range 1001–1092) rather than old section labels.

A Practical Compliance Checklist for Deductors

1.          Confirm your payroll, ERP, or TDS software is updated to Tax Year 2026-27 release, with the new payment codes and form numbers.

2.          Prepare deductee-level data (PAN, payment code, amount, TDS, challan reference) each quarter.

3.          Reconcile challan payments against the deducted amount before filing — mismatches are the single biggest cause of defective-return notices.

4.          File on the correct new form (138/140/143/144/141, as applicable) by the due date.

5.          Issue the corresponding certificate (130/131/132/133) within the prescribed window.

6.          Verify that deductee credit reflects correctly in their Form 168 (the new Act’s equivalent of Form 26AS/AIS).

7.          Where a mismatch or error is found, file a correction statement promptly — the correction mechanism continues to be available under the new Act, generally within a defined window from the original filing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. Do I need to file separate returns for salary and non-salary TDS? Yes — salary TDS is reported in Form 138, while all other resident payments (rent, professional fees, contractor payments, interest, commission, etc.) go into Form 140. Non-resident payments are reported separately in Form 144.

Q2. What happened to Form 26QB/26QC for property and rent TDS? They’ve been merged into a single Form 141, which now has separate schedules for property purchase, rent by specified individuals, contractor/professional payments by specified individuals, and virtual digital asset transfers — one form, multiple use-cases.

Q3. Is the late-filing fee different under the new Act? No — the fee structure (₹200/day, capped at the TDS/TCS amount) is unchanged in substance; it now sits under the corresponding provision of the Income Tax Act, 2025 rather than the old Section 234E.

Q4. Can I still correct a TDS return filed under the old Act after 1st April 2026? Yes. Corrections to statements relating to transactions before 1st April 2026 continue to be filed on the old forms, using the old section references, even if the correction itself is filed after the new Act comes into force.

This calendar reflects the compliance framework applicable to Tax Year 2026-27 (transactions from 1st April 2026 onward). Always cross-check current due dates on the income tax e-filing portal, as procedural circulars may refine specific timelines.