TDS return due dates for FY 2026-27

The same dates apply to all three deductor statements: Form 24Q for salary, Form 26Q for other payments to residents, and Form 27Q for payments to non-residents. Form 16, the annual salary certificate, is due by 15 June following the financial year, which for FY 2026-27 means 15 June 2027.

Tax collected at source runs a fortnight earlier: Form 27EQ is due on 15 July, 15 October, 15 January and 15 May, and the TCS certificate in Form 27D within 15 days of each.

Tax deducted in any month must be deposited by the 7th of the following month. The exception is March: tax deducted in March is due by 30 April. Government deductors paying by book entry deposit on the same day.

Deductors permitted by the Assessing Officer to pay quarterly under sections 192, 194A, 194D and 194H deposit by 7 July, 7 October, 7 January and 30 April. Everyone else is monthly.

Tax on the purchase of property under section 194-IA, and on rent above ₹50,000 a month paid by individuals under 194-IB, is deposited with the challan-cum-statement (Form 26QB or 26QC) within 30 days of the end of the month of deduction; there is no separate quarterly return for those.

Late statement: ₹200 a day. The fee under section 234E accrues for every day the quarterly statement is late, capped at the amount of tax deducted for that quarter. It is a fee, not a penalty, which is why no Assessing Officer or Commissioner can waive it. A statement three months late on ₹40,000 of TDS costs the full ₹40,000.

Penalty under section 271H: ₹10,000 to ₹1 lakh. Levied for a statement not filed, or filed with incorrect PAN, challan or amount details. It is not levied where the statement is filed within one year of the due date after paying the tax, interest and late fee.

Interest under section 201(1A). One percent a month from the date the tax should have been deducted to the date it was, and 1.5 percent a month from the date of deduction to the date of deposit. Part of a month counts as a month.

Disallowance. Thirty percent of any expense on which tax was not deducted, or was deducted but not deposited by the return due date, is disallowed in the payer’s own computation under section 40(a)(ia).

Prosecution. Failure to deposit deducted tax is an offence under section 276B, with a defence where the amount is deposited before the due date of the quarterly statement.

Tax deducted from 1 April 2026 falls under the Income-tax Act, 2025, which replaces the 1961 Act for income of tax year 2026-27 onwards. The due dates above do not change. What changes is the numbering: the TDS provisions are consolidated, so salary moves from section 192 to 392, contractor payments from 194C into 393, and the interest and fee provisions in the 234 series are renumbered in the 420s.

The department’s utilities, TRACES and most practitioners still refer to the familiar 1961 sections while the transition runs, and we do the same on this page. Where a notice quotes a new-Act section, match it to the old one before responding; the obligation is the same, the label is not.

Inoperative PAN. If the deductee’s PAN is not linked to Aadhaar, tax must be deducted at 20 percent. Deducting at the normal rate leaves the deductor liable for the shortfall plus interest.

Challan mismatch. A deposit under the wrong section, assessment year or TAN sits unmatched on TRACES and the deductee’s credit does not appear in Form 26AS. Correction is possible through the challan correction facility but takes time the deductee does not have before their own return.

Wrong section on the statement. Professional fees reported under contractor rates, or rent reported under the wrong sub-section, generates a default notice even when the amount deposited was right.

Nil statements. A quarter with no deduction does not require a statement, but a deductor who has filed before should file a nil declaration on TRACES to stop the non-filing notices.

Corrections. A statement can be corrected any number of times, but every day the original is late still counts. File on time with what you have, then correct.

Statements are filed on the e-filing portal and defaults are tracked on TRACES. Our TDS return filing service handles deposit tracking, statement preparation and default resolution from ₹799 a quarter.