TDS Return Filing in 2026: Due Dates, New Form Numbers, Late Fee and Corrections

Deducting TDS is only half the job. Every quarter the deductor has to tell the Income Tax Department whose tax was deducted, how much, under which provision and which challan paid it — that report is the TDS return, officially a "statement" under section 397(3)(b) of the Income-tax Act, 2025. It is what puts the credit into the payee's tax records, so a late or wrong statement hurts both sides. This guide is for business owners, accountants and payroll teams. It covers which form to file now that 24Q, 26Q and 27Q have new numbers, the due dates for tax year 2026-27, how filing works, the late fee and penalty, how to correct mistakes, and worked examples in rupees.

Quick answer

TDS returns (quarterly statements) are due on 31 July, 31 October, 31 January and 31 May for the four quarters of the tax year (rule 219, Income-tax Rules, 2026). From 1 April 2026, Form 138 replaced 24Q (salary), Form 140 replaced 26Q (other payments to residents), Form 144 replaced 27Q (non-residents) and Form 143 replaced 27EQ (TCS). Filing late costs ₹200 a day under section 427, capped at the TDS, and can attract a penalty of ₹10,000 to ₹1,00,000.

• Prepare with the Protean RPU, validate with the FVU, upload on the e-filing portal with your TAN

• Penalty-free only if filed within one month of the due date with tax, fee and interest paid

• Corrections allowed within two years from the end of the tax year in which the statement was due

• Quarters up to March 2026 stay on 24Q/26Q/27Q, including corrections

What a TDS return is and who files it

Section 397(3) of the Income-tax Act, 2025 sets out two steps for every person who deducts or collects tax. First, pay the tax to the government within the prescribed time — by the 7th of the next month, with 30 April for March. Second, after paying, deliver a statement for the period, in the prescribed form, to the prescribed authority. Rule 219 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026 makes that statement quarterly and names the form.

Anyone who holds a TAN and deducts tax files these statements: companies, LLPs, firms, trusts, government offices, and proprietors who are specified persons or who employ staff with taxable salaries. Individuals who deduct only on buying property, paying rent above the monthly limit, or paying certain contractors and professionals without having a TAN use a different route: the monthly challan-cum-statement Form 141, due within 30 days from the end of the month of deduction. Our TDS on rent guide explains that route.

The statement lists each payee with PAN, the amount paid or credited, the date, the section and payment code, the rate, the tax deducted and the challan that paid it. It also reports payments where no tax or lower tax was deducted because the payee gave a Form 121 declaration or a lower-deduction certificate. The Centralised Processing Cell (TDS) processes it, matches it to challans, and the credits flow into each payee's Annual Information Statement (Form 168).

Which form to file: new numbers vs 24Q, 26Q and 27Q

Rule 219(1) lays out the forms in a table. The mapping to the old forms is simple once you know it.

The changeover follows the transaction date. The Income Tax Department's FAQs say the Act that applies depends on the earlier of credit or payment (for salary, the date of payment): events on or before 31 March 2026 belong to the 1961 Act, events from 1 April 2026 to the new Act. So the last old-format statements were for January–March 2026, due 31 May 2026. Corrections to any quarter up to March 2026 must still be filed in the old formats even now; the Department has said its utilities and TRACES support both.

TDS statements at a glance (tax year 2026-27)

4

Quarterly statements a year

per form you deduct under

₹200 a day

Late fee

s.427, capped at TDS

₹10,000 to ₹1,00,000

Possible penalty

s.461

2 years

Correction window

from end of the tax year due

Due dates for tax year 2026-27

Rule 219(4) fixes the same four dates for every quarterly statement — Forms 138, 140, 144 and 143. They are 31 July, 31 October, 31 January and 31 May. Government and non-government deductors share these dates. Certificates follow: Form 131 for non-salary TDS is due within 15 days from the due date of the quarterly statement, and Form 130 for salary by 15 June after the end of the tax year, so missing a statement date pushes the certificate date out too.

At the time of writing, in October 2026, the Q2 statement for July–September is due on 31 October 2026. Before filing it, make sure the September deposit made by 7 October is in the challan list, and that any interest on late deposits has been paid — section 398(3)(b) requires interest to be paid before the statement is furnished.

How to file a TDS return

Filing has three parts: prepare the file offline, validate it, and upload it on the e-filing portal. The Department's user manuals for Forms 138 and 140 describe the same flow.

You prepare the statement in the Return Preparation Utility (RPU) published by Protean (formerly NSDL), under Downloads → e-TDS/e-TCS → Quarterly return. Many payroll and accounting packages export a file in the same format. The RPU then runs the File Validation Utility (FVU), which checks structure, PAN formats and challan details and produces a validated file that you zip. Use the latest FVU version; the portal rejects files whose FVU version does not match the one shown on the upload screen.

Upload on the e-filing portal: log in with the TAN, go to e-File → Income Tax Forms → File Income Tax Forms, pick the form under the TDS/TCS category, enter the tax year, the quarter and whether it is a regular or correction statement, attach the zip and e-verify — with a registered digital signature or an electronic verification code. The status appears under View Filed Forms. Accepted statements go to TRACES for processing; rejected ones show the reason by email. You get a token number (provisional receipt number) for each accepted statement; keep it, because you need it for corrections and certificate downloads.

Filing a quarterly statement (Form 138 / 140 / 144 / 143)

1. 1

   Reconcile before you prepare

   Match every deduction in your books with a challan; pay any interest on late deposits first.

2. 2

   Prepare in the RPU

   Download the latest Protean RPU, enter deductor details, challans and deductee rows quoting section 392/393/394 and the new payment codes.

   Protean e-TDS downloads
3. 3

   Validate with the FVU

   Generate the validated file and zip it. Fix every error the FVU reports.

4. 4

   Upload with your TAN

   e-Filing portal → e-File → Income Tax Forms → choose the form, tax year, quarter and Regular.

   Form 140 user manual
5. 5

   e-Verify and note the token number

   Sign with DSC or EVC. Save the acknowledgement and token number.

6. 6

   Check processing on TRACES

   Look for 'processed without default'. If there are defaults, read the justification report and correct them.

Late fee, penalty and interest

Three different charges can apply, and they are often confused.

The late fee under section 427 (old section 234E) is automatic. It is ₹200 a day for every day the statement is late, starting the day after the due date, and it cannot exceed the tax deductible or collectible in that statement. It must be paid before the statement is filed; if you file without paying it, the processing intimation under section 399 will raise a demand for it. Intimations must be issued within one year from the end of the tax year in which the statement is filed.

The penalty under section 461 (old section 271H) is discretionary and is imposed by the Assessing Officer: not less than ₹10,000 and up to ₹1,00,000, for filing late or filing incorrect information. Section 461(2) gives one escape route for late filing: no penalty if the tax, the fee and the interest have all been paid and the statement is filed within one month from the due date. Under the 1961 Act the window was one year until the Finance Act 2025 reduced it to one month from 1 April 2025, and the new Act kept the one month. A Q2 statement due on 31 October 2026 is penalty-safe only if filed by 30 November 2026 with everything paid.

Interest under section 398(3) is about the tax, not the statement: 1% a month or part of a month if you did not deduct when you should have, and 1.5% a month or part of a month if you deducted but deposited late. There is also a general penalty for continuing failures under section 465(2)(k), and if TDS on a payment to a resident is not deducted or not paid by the return due date, 30% of that expense is disallowed in your own income computation.

Late fee vs penalty vs interest

Charge	Section (old)	Amount	When it applies
Late filing fee	427 (234E)	₹200 a day, capped at TDS	Every day the statement is late
Penalty	461 (271H)	₹10,000 to ₹1,00,000	Late or incorrect statement; waived if filed within one month with all dues paid
Interest — no deduction	398(3)(a)(i) (201(1A))	1% a month or part of a month	From when TDS was due to when deducted
Interest — late deposit	398(3)(a)(ii) (201(1A))	1.5% a month or part of a month	From deduction to deposit

Late filing fee

Section (old)

427 (234E)

Amount

₹200 a day, capped at TDS

When it applies

Every day the statement is late

Penalty

Section (old)

461 (271H)

Amount

₹10,000 to ₹1,00,000

When it applies

Late or incorrect statement; waived if filed within one month with all dues paid

Interest — no deduction

Section (old)

398(3)(a)(i) (201(1A))

Amount

1% a month or part of a month

When it applies

From when TDS was due to when deducted

Interest — late deposit

Section (old)

398(3)(a)(ii) (201(1A))

Amount

1.5% a month or part of a month

When it applies

From deduction to deposit

Worked examples in ₹

1. Q2 filed twenty days late. A trading firm deducted ₹48,000 of TDS in July–September 2026 and deposited it on time. It files Form 140 on 20 November 2026, twenty days after the 31 October due date. Late fee: 20 × ₹200 = ₹4,000, paid before filing. Because the tax was paid, the fee was paid and the statement was filed within one month of the due date, no section 461 penalty can be levied.

2. Q3 filed after the one-month window. The same firm files its Q3 statement, due 31 January 2027, on 17 April 2027 — 76 days late. Late fee: 76 × ₹200 = ₹15,200, below its Q3 TDS of ₹52,000, so the full ₹15,200 is payable. The statement is outside the one-month window, so the Assessing Officer may also levy a penalty of ₹10,000 to ₹1,00,000.

3. Small deductor, long delay. A proprietor deducted only ₹6,000 in Q1 2026-27 (TDS on a contractor) and forgets the statement until 27 May 2027, 300 days late. The fee would be ₹60,000, but section 427(2) caps it at the TDS of ₹6,000. The penalty exposure under section 461 still exists.

4. Late deposit and late filing together. A company deducts ₹1,00,000 from a contractor on 25 August 2026 and deposits it on 12 October 2026 instead of 7 September. Interest at 1.5% a month or part of a month for each month or part of a month (TRACES counts August, September and October — three) is ₹4,500, and must be paid before the Q2 statement is filed. If the statement then goes in on time, there is no late fee.

Work out the TDS on a payment before you report it

Payment AmountNature of Payment (Section)

194C — Contractor (Individual/HUF) · 1%194C — Contractor (Others) · 2%194J — Professional fees · 10%194J — Technical services · 2%194H — Commission / brokerage · 2%194I — Rent (Land & building) · 10%194I — Rent (Plant & machinery) · 2%194Q — Purchase of goods · 0.1%194A — Interest (other than securities) · 10%

Payee PAN

PAN availableNo PAN (20%)

Payment Amount₹2,50,000.00

Section194C

TDS Rate2%

TDS to Deduct₹5,000.00

Net Payable to Payee₹2,45,000.00

Open the full TDS Calculator (PDF, save, compare)

After filing: processing, intimations and defaults

Section 399 sets out how statements are processed. The system recomputes the tax deductible after fixing arithmetical errors and "incorrect claims apparent" from the statement — for example a rate that does not match the provision quoted, or a row that contradicts another row. It then computes interest on the basis of the statement, works out the section 427 fee, sets these against what you have already paid, and sends an intimation showing either a demand or a refund. The intimation must go out within one year from the end of the tax year in which the statement was filed.

In practice the result shows on TRACES as "processed without default" or "processed with default". Common defaults are short deduction (a lower rate applied than the law or certificate allows), short payment (a challan that does not cover the rows linked to it), interest on late payment, and the late fee. Each has a different fix. Short payment and interest are cleared by paying a fresh challan and tagging it through a correction. Short deduction caused by a wrong PAN or wrong section is cleared by correcting the row. A genuine short deduction means paying the difference yourself, with interest, because the payee has already been paid.

Do not ignore an intimation because the amount looks small. Unpaid demands are adjusted against refunds, block certificate downloads for the affected rows, and make the deductor an assessee in default for that amount under section 398.

Correcting a TDS return

Mistakes in a filed statement are fixed with a correction statement, not by filing the quarter again. Typical corrections are a wrong or missing PAN, a deductee row added or deleted, a challan wrongly tagged, a wrong section or payment code, or wrong amounts. You download the consolidated file for that statement from TRACES, make the corrections in the RPU, validate with the FVU and upload as a "Correction" with the original token number (RRR). The portal rejects a correction whose RRR does not match.

Section 397(3)(f) allows a correction within two years from the end of the tax year in which the statement was due. So a correction for Q3 of 2026-27, a statement due in January 2027, can be filed until 31 March 2029. The Q4 statement is due in May of the following tax year, so its two years run from the end of that later year. After the deadline, the department can still treat you as an assessee in default, so don't sit on errors. Section 398(5) gives the Assessing Officer six years from the end of the tax year in which tax was deductible, or two years from the end of the tax year in which a correction was filed, whichever is later.

Watch the old section numbers. The Department has warned that quoting a 1961 Act section — "194C" instead of section 393 and the new payment code — on a payment made after 1 April 2026 can cause processing errors that need a correction statement.

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

Filing on the last day. The portal and FVU rejections cluster around 31 July and 31 October. A rejected file on the due date means a late fee from the next day. Aim to file a week early.

Unmatched challans. A challan paid under the wrong TAN, wrong tax year or wrong minor head will not match the statement, and the deductees lose credit. Check challan status on TRACES before filing.

Wrong form for the payment. Salary in Form 140, or non-resident payments in Form 140 instead of Form 144, produces defaults. EPF payouts under section 392(7) go in Form 140 for residents, not Form 138.

Forgetting nil and lower-deduction rows. Payments covered by a Form 121 declaration or a lower-deduction certificate still have to be reported with the right flag; leaving them out shows up as a short deduction later.

Ignoring the justification report. If TRACES processes the statement "with default", download the justification report and fix the cause — short deduction, short payment, interest or late fee — through a challan or a correction. Unfixed defaults become demands.

Old forms for new periods. For deductions from 1 April 2026, 24Q, 26Q and 27Q are no longer the right forms. For quarters up to March 2026, they still are.

Official links

• Income-tax Act, 2025 — Gazette texts.397(3) statements and corrections; s.427 fee; s.461 penalty
• Form 138 user manualSalary statement (old 24Q)
• Form 140 user manualNon-salary statement for residents (old 26Q)
• TDS compliance FAQsTransition, old-period corrections
• TRACESProcessing status, justification reports, consolidated files, certificates
• e-Filing portalUpload statements with TAN

What to do next

Put the four due dates in your calendar now, with a reminder a week earlier, and the 15th of the following month for certificates. Reconcile challans every month instead of every quarter. If you are new to deducting tax, read what TDS is and get a TAN first; for payroll, see TDS on salary and the Form 16 / Form 130 guide. Check each deduction with our free TDS calculator before you pay the vendor.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice — confirm on the official source or with a professional.

Frequently asked questions

What are the TDS return due dates for tax year 2026-27?

Quarterly TDS statements are due on 31 July, 31 October, 31 January and 31 May — 31 July for April–June, 31 October for July–September, 31 January for October–December and 31 May of the next year for January–March. The dates are in rule 219 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026 and apply to Forms 138, 140, 144 and 143.

Which form replaced Form 24Q and Form 26Q?

From 1 April 2026, Form 24Q (salary) became Form 138, Form 26Q (other payments to residents) became Form 140, Form 27Q (payments to non-residents) became Form 144 and Form 27EQ (TCS) became Form 143. Statements and corrections for quarters up to March 2026 stay in the old formats.

What is the late fee for filing a TDS return late?

Section 427 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (old section 234E) charges ₹200 a day for every day the statement is late, capped at the TDS amount in that statement. The fee must be paid before the statement is filed. It is separate from interest on late deposit and from any penalty.

Is there a penalty besides the ₹200 a day fee?

Yes. Section 461 lets the Assessing Officer levy ₹10,000 to ₹1,00,000 for not filing on time or for filing incorrect information. No penalty applies for delay if the tax, fee and interest were paid and the statement was filed within one month of the due date — a much shorter window than the one year the old section 271H used to allow.

How long do I have to correct a TDS return?

Under section 397(3)(f), a correction statement can be filed within two years from the end of the tax year in which the statement was due. For example, a correction for Q3 of tax year 2026-27 (due 31 January 2027) can be filed until 31 March 2029. Corrections for quarters under the 1961 Act are still made in the old formats.

Do I need to file a TDS return if I deducted no tax in a quarter?

The statement under section 397(3)(b) reports tax deducted, so a quarter with no deduction has nothing to report. Deductors who expect default reminders can usually record on the e-filing portal that no statement is due. If you received a no-deduction declaration (Form 121) or deducted at a lower rate under a certificate, those payments do have to be reported.

Sources & verification

Figures on this page were checked against the sources below when it was last reviewed on 9 October 2026. Each rate and limit is stored once with its own official source and review date, and official update channels are monitored daily so changes are picked up. How we verify

1. 1.The Income-tax Act, 2025 (Act No. 30 of 2025), Gazette of India Extraordinary, 21 August 2025 — Ministry of Law and Justice (Legislative Department) · accessed 9 October 2026
2. 2.Form 138 — user manual — Income Tax Department (e-Filing portal) · accessed 9 October 2026
3. 3.Form 140 — user manual — Income Tax Department (e-Filing portal) · accessed 9 October 2026
4. 4.TDS Compliance — e-Filing help (FAQs on the transition to the Income-tax Act, 2025) — Income Tax Department (e-Filing portal) · accessed 9 October 2026
5. 5.Rule 219, Income-tax Rules 2026 — statements of TDS/TCS — TaxHeal (reproducing the notified rule) · accessed 9 October 2026
6. 6.Section 461: penalty for not filing TDS or TCS returns — TDSMAN · accessed 9 October 2026
7. 7.Late filing of TDS/TCS statements — fee, penalty and compliance requirements — TDSMAN · accessed 9 October 2026
8. 8.TDS and TCS changes from April 2026 — ClearTax · accessed 9 October 2026