TDS Return Due Dates: Form 24Q, 26Q, 27Q Guide for FY 2026-27

If you deduct tax at source, depositing the TDS with the government every month is only half the job. You also have to file a quarterly TDS statement telling the department who you deducted tax from, how much, and against which PAN. This is what feeds your deductees' Form 26AS/AIS — miss it, and they can't claim credit for the tax you deducted.

This is different from the TDS payment due date (generally the 7th of the following month). Here we're talking about the quarterly return — the statement itself — filed as Form 24Q, 26Q, or 27Q depending on who you paid.

One important update for anything filed for FY 2026-27 onward: under the new Income-tax Act, 2025 and Income-tax Rules, 2026 (effective 1 April 2026), these forms were officially renumbered — 24Q is now Form 138, 26Q is now Form 140, 27Q is now Form 144. Due dates and who-files-what are unchanged — only the form numbers and section references. Since "24Q/26Q/27Q" is still how everyone refers to them, we've used the familiar names throughout, noting the new numbers alongside. Q4 of FY 2025-26 (Jan–Mar 2026) was still filed under the old 24Q/26Q/27Q framework, since that quarter fell under the Income-tax Act, 1961.

What Are Form 24Q, 26Q, and 27Q?

Form 24Q (now Form 138) — the quarterly statement for TDS deducted from salary payments to employees under Section 192. This is what feeds into your employees' Form 16 at year-end.

Form 26Q (now Form 140) — the quarterly statement for TDS deducted on all other domestic (resident) payments — professional fees, rent, contractor payments, interest, commission, brokerage, and so on, covering the payments previously reported under sections like 194C, 194J, 194I, 194H, etc.

Form 27Q (now Form 144) — the quarterly statement for TDS deducted on payments made to non-residents (other than salary) — this covers cross-border payments such as royalties, technical fees, interest, or professional fees paid to foreign vendors or consultants, where tax is deducted under Section 195 (or the applicable DTAA rate).

There's also Form 27EQ (now Form 143), the return for Tax Collected at Source (TCS) — not covered in this guide, which focuses on TDS.

Who Must File Each Form

• Form 24Q / 138: Any employer who deducted TDS on salary paid to employees — companies, partnerships, proprietorships, and individuals/HUFs liable to deduct TDS.
• Form 26Q / 140: Any deductor who made payments to resident vendors, professionals, landlords, or contractors and deducted TDS on those payments.
• Form 27Q / 144: Any deductor who made payments to a non-resident or foreign company and deducted TDS on that payment.

If you had no TDS deduction in a quarter, a nil return generally isn't mandatory — but if your TAN has an active filing history, confirm on the portal rather than assume.

Due Dates

The quarterly filing due date has historically been the last day of the month following the quarter — except Q4, which gets an extended window to 31 May. This rule is unchanged under the new Income-tax Act, 2025 / Rules, 2026 as well, and applies uniformly across 24Q/138, 26Q/140, and 27Q/144.

All three forms share the same due date within a given quarter — there's no staggering between 24Q, 26Q, and 27Q. Note that TCS return (27EQ/143) used to follow a different (15th-of-the-month) schedule but has now been aligned to the same quarterly calendar as the TDS forms from FY 2026-27.

Always cross-check the current due date on the e-filing portal or with your tax advisor before filing, especially around Q4 — CBDT occasionally issues circulars extending due dates for specific years, and you don't want to rely on a blog post (including this one) as the final word for a live filing.

Late Filing Fee and Penalty

Two separate consequences apply if you file late or file incorrectly, and both can hit the same return.

Section 234E — late filing fee. Filing the TDS statement after the due date makes you liable for a fee of ₹200 for every day the failure continues, capped at the total TDS/TCS amount reported in that statement. You can't even submit the late return without first paying this fee — the portal requires the 234E challan before accepting a late statement.

Section 271H — penalty. Separately, a penalty ranging from a minimum of ₹10,000 up to a maximum of ₹1,00,000 can be levied for failing to file the TDS/TCS statement by the due date, or for filing an incorrect one (wrong PAN, wrong TDS amount, etc.) — in addition to the 234E fee, not instead of it.

Relief is available for delayed (not incorrect) filing: no 271H penalty applies if you (1) deposit the TDS deducted, (2) pay the late fee and any interest due, and (3) file the statement — all within a defined window of the due date. That window was reduced from one year to one month, effective Assessment Year 2025-26, so the old "one year's grace" rule no longer holds. If you're late, treat one month from the due date as your real deadline to dodge the 271H penalty.

Under the Income-tax Act, 2025, these provisions have also been recodified under new section numbers — old section 234E is now section 427, and old section 271H is now section 461. The amounts (₹200/day fee, ₹10,000-₹1,00,000 penalty) are unchanged; only the section references moved for statements from Tax Year 2026-27 onward.

How to File

1. Prepare the return using the Return Preparation Utility (RPU) from Protean (formerly NSDL e-Governance), or third-party TDS software. Enter deductee-wise details, PAN, and challan details for the quarter.
2. Validate the file using the File Validation Utility (FVU), also from Protean — this generates the .fvu file and Form 27A (a summary/control chart).
3. Upload the statement via a TIN-Facilitation Centre or directly on the e-filing portal (incometax.gov.in), where your TAN must be registered for online upload.
4. Verify using DSC or EVC, depending on your deductor category, and download the acknowledgment.
5. Check TRACES a few days later to confirm the statement processed and Form 16/16A can be generated.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the TDS payment due date the same as the TDS return due date?

No. TDS payment (depositing the deducted tax with the government) is generally due by the 7th of the following month (with some exceptions for March). The TDS return — the quarterly statement — is due on a separate, later schedule as shown in the table above.

Do I need to file a nil TDS return if I didn't deduct any tax in a quarter?

Filing a nil statement isn't mandatory in most cases, but rules and portal behavior can vary based on your TAN's filing history. Check your obligations on the e-filing portal rather than assuming.

What happens if I file 26Q but a payment should have gone in 27Q (or vice versa)?

Filing under the wrong form is treated as an error requiring correction, not full compliance — you'll need to file a correction statement. It can also expose you to the 271H penalty for an incorrect statement, so get the residency status of the deductee right before filing.

Are Form 24Q, 26Q, and 27Q still valid names after the Income-tax Act, 2025 came into force?

For FY 2026-27 onward, the official forms are 138, 140, and 144 respectively. The old names (24Q/26Q/27Q) are still widely used in common parlance and by most accounting software, but the statutory references have changed. Always confirm the correct form on the e-filing portal for the period you're filing.

Sources

• Income Tax Department — TDS/TCS statement late filing fees and penalties (Section 234E, Section 271H): incometaxindia.gov.in
• Income Tax Department — Online Filing of TDS Return (RPU/FVU via Protean, formerly NSDL eGov): incometaxindia.gov.in
• Income Tax Department — Income-tax Act, 2025 and Income-tax Rules, 2026 (official text pages): incometaxindia.gov.in