The next TDS statement deadline is 31 October 2026, for the July to September quarter. After that come 31 January 2027 and 31 May 2027. These are the first statements filed under the Income-tax Act, 2025, so the form names have changed. What used to be 26Q is now Form 140, and 24Q is now Form 138.
A statement is only as good as the records behind it: every deduction tied to a payment, every challan to a deduction, and every PAN checked. If those records are a mess at quarter-end, Complianto’s bookkeeping and accounting service keeps them reconciled month by month.
Quarterly due dates for tax year 2026-27
| Quarter | Period | Statement due |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 | April to June 2026 | 31 July 2026 |
| Q2 | July to September 2026 | 31 October 2026 |
| Q3 | October to December 2026 | 31 January 2027 |
| Q4 | January to March 2027 | 31 May 2027 |
The same calendar appears in the department’s user manuals for Form 138, Form 140 and Form 144.
TCS collectors, check your date. The Form 143 manual currently shows the same calendar for TCS statements. Under the old rules, the TCS statement was due two weeks earlier, on the 15th of the month after the quarter. Until you have confirmed the date in the Income-tax Rules, 2026, filing by the 15th is the safer course.
Old form, new form
The form mapping guide on the e-filing portal lists the replacements. All the quarterly statements are now furnished under section 397(3)(b) of the 2025 Act.
| Statement for | 1961 Act form | 2025 Act form |
|---|---|---|
| TDS on salary (and specified senior citizen income) | 24Q | 138 |
| TDS on other payments to residents | 26Q | 140 |
| TDS on payments to non-residents | 27Q | 144 |
| TCS | 27EQ | 143 |
| Challan-cum-statement for property, rent and specified payments by individuals | 26QB, 26QC, 26QD, 26QE | 141 |
Statements for quarters up to January to March 2026 belong to the old Act. Check on the e-filing portal which form to use for those periods and their corrections.
Who has to file, and how often
Any person who deducts tax at source files the matching statement for every quarter in which tax was deducted. That includes companies, firms, LLPs, government offices, and, in some cases, individuals and HUFs. A business paying salaries above the taxable limit files Form 138. A business deducting tax on contractor payments, professional fees, rent or commission files Form 140. Each statement is linked to your TAN, and the Form 140 manual makes a valid TAN, registered on the e-filing portal, a precondition.
How a statement gets filed
- Download the current Return Preparation Utility (RPU) from the Protean (NSDL) site.
- Prepare the statement, validate it with the File Validation Utility, and zip the FVU file.
- Log in to the e-filing portal with your TAN. Under the “Forms as per Income Tax Act 2025” tab, open the deduction and collection category and choose the form.
- Select the tax year, quarter and upload type, upload the file, and e-verify.
- Track it under View Filed Forms. Accepted statements move to TRACES. A rejected upload triggers an email giving the reason.
The most common avoidable rejection is an FVU version mismatch. The manual warns that the FVU version must match the one shown on the portal’s form screen.
Late statements: fee and penalty
Under the 1961 Act, section 234E charged a fee of ₹200 for every day a statement was late, capped at the tax deductible or collectible, and payable before the statement could be filed. The 2025 Act carries a similar daily fee for statements due under section 397(3)(b); check the current provision. Separately, a penalty can apply where a statement is not filed, or is filed with incorrect details. Under the old Act, the deductor could avoid it in some cases by filing within a set period after the due date. The fee runs every day, so a statement filed a month late with large deductions is already expensive. File the statement even if one challan is still being matched, then correct it.
Correction statements
Mistakes are fixed by filing a correction statement against the original, not by filing a fresh one. Typical mistakes are a wrong PAN, a challan tagged to the wrong deductee, or a short amount. When uploading on the portal, choose “correction” as the upload type. The RRR (receipt) number in the FVU file must match the one entered on the form’s landing screen. Uploading a correction file as a regular statement, or the reverse, gets it rejected. Deductee PAN errors matter most, because they decide whether the payee sees the credit in their tax statements.
Frequently asked questions
Is the salary certificate still called Form 16?
No. For tax year 2026-27 the salary TDS certificate is issued in a renumbered form under the 2025 Rules. The portal’s form navigator shows the current number next to the old one.
Our payroll and vendor payments run through one TAN. Do we file one statement?
No. Salary deductions go in Form 138 and other resident payments go in Form 140, both under the same TAN, every quarter.
Can a correction be filed after the year ends?
Yes. Corrections are filed against the original statement’s receipt number, including for earlier years. Check the time limits that apply to old-Act periods.
Complianto (complianto.in), operated by Mentorcorp Private Limited, is a private consultancy and is not affiliated with any government body. We do not issue official documents. We charge a professional fee for application assistance and advisory services. Applicants can apply directly to the government without our fees via the official portals: MCA (mca.gov.in), Income Tax (incometax.gov.in), GST (gst.gov.in), MSME (udyamregistration.gov.in), FSSAI (foscos.fssai.gov.in), Startup India (startupindia.gov.in), and IP India (ipindia.gov.in).
This article is general information, not legal or tax advice.
