Last reviewed: 6 August 2026. Update: the 31 July due date for Q1 has passed — if you missed it, file now; the late fee under Section 234E runs at ₹200 per day, capped at the TDS amount. Q2 (July–September) statements fall due 31 October 2026. The quarterly TDS/TCS statement you file this week is the first one governed by the Income-tax Act, 2025 — and it does not look like the one you filed in April. The familiar Forms 24Q, 26Q, 27Q and 27EQ have been renumbered, the TCS statement has lost its early 15 July deadline and now falls due with everything else on 31 July 2026, and the window to escape penalty on a late statement has shrunk from one year to one month. Here is exactly what changed, what it costs to be late, and a checklist to close Q1 cleanly.
What changed from this quarter
The Income-tax Act, 2025 and the Income-tax Rules, 2026 apply to periods starting 1 April 2026 (the Act now calls FY 2026-27 the “tax year”). The filing obligation itself sits in Section 397(3)(b) — the successor to Sections 200(3)/206C(3) — and the statement formats have been re-issued with new numbers:
| Purpose | Old form (1961 Act) | New form (2025 Act) | Q1 due date |
|---|---|---|---|
| TDS on salary | 24Q | Form 138 | 31 July 2026 |
| TDS on resident non-salary payments (contractors, rent, professional fees, interest, etc.) | 26Q | Form 140 | 31 July 2026 |
| TDS on payments to non-residents | 27Q | Form 144 | 31 July 2026 |
| TCS statement | 27EQ | Form 143 | 31 July 2026 (earlier 15 July — now aligned) |
Certificates have moved with them: Form 16 becomes Form 130 (annual salary certificate), Form 16A becomes Form 131 (quarterly, non-salary) and Form 27D becomes Form 133 (TCS). Q1 Form 131 certificates fall due within 15 days of the statement deadline — 15 August 2026. The section numbers you quote have changed too: salary TDS is now Section 392 and most resident non-salary deductions sit consolidated in Section 393 — our old-to-new TDS section mapping covers the full table, and the wider form renumbering is in our Income-tax Rules, 2026 form-mapping guide.
Due-date calendar for tax year 2026-27
| Quarter | Period | TDS/TCS statement due |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 | 1 Apr – 30 Jun 2026 | 31 July 2026 |
| Q2 | 1 Jul – 30 Sep 2026 | 31 October 2026 |
| Q3 | 1 Oct – 31 Dec 2026 | 31 January 2027 |
| Q4 | 1 Jan – 31 Mar 2027 | 31 May 2027 |
Monthly deposit discipline is unchanged: tax deducted in a month goes in by the 7th of the following month (March deductions by 30 April 2027 for non-government deductors). Note that this article is about the deductor’s quarterly statement — your own income-tax return for AY 2026-27 runs on a separate calendar; see our ITR Filing Hub.
What a late Q1 statement actually costs
Three provisions stack up, and they are computed differently:
- Late fee — Section 427 (old 234E): Rs 200 for every day of delay, capped at the TDS/TCS amount in the statement. It must be paid before the delayed statement is filed.
- Interest — Section 398(3) (old 201(1A)): 1% per month or part for failure to deduct; 1.5% per month or part where tax was deducted but deposited late — counted from the date of deduction to the date of deposit.
- Penalty — Section 461 (old 271H): Rs 10,000 to Rs 1,00,000 for non-filing or incorrect particulars. No penalty if the tax, interest and fee are paid and the statement goes in within one month of the due date. The 1961 Act gave you a year; the 2025 Act gives you until 31 August 2026 for Q1.
Worked example 1 — late filing. A Thane trading company has Rs 1,80,000 of TDS in its Q1 Form 140, due 31 July 2026, but files on 25 September 2026. Delay = 56 days (31 in August + 25 in September). Late fee = 56 × Rs 200 = Rs 11,200. Because filing happened after 31 August 2026, the Section 461 shield is gone — the company also carries penalty exposure of Rs 10,000 to Rs 1,00,000, even though all tax was deposited on time.
Worked example 2 — the cap. A small proprietor has only Rs 6,000 of TDS in the quarter and files 90 days late. The computed fee of Rs 18,000 is capped at Rs 6,000 — the fee can never exceed the tax in the statement.
Worked example 3 — late deposit. Rs 50,000 deducted on 10 June 2026 (due for deposit 7 July) is actually deposited on 20 July 2026. The delay touches two months (June and July, part-month counting as full), so interest = Rs 50,000 × 1.5% × 2 = Rs 1,500, disallowance and prosecution provisions for serious non-deposit apart.
Filing checklist before 31 July
- Reconcile challans to the deduction register — every April–June challan (BSR code, date, amount) should tie to deductee-wise entries before you validate the file.
- Use the new form, not the old one — Q1 of tax year 2026-27 goes on Forms 138/140/143/144. Old forms remain valid only for earlier periods and their corrections.
- Update your utility — prepare the statement only on the latest RPU/FVU or a software release updated for tax year 2026-27; older versions validate against the old formats and reject or mis-map the new section references. The utilities map old 194-series references to the new codes — do not hand-type old section numbers where the new schema expects updated codes.
- Validate PANs — inoperative or wrong PANs trigger higher-rate demands after processing; fix them before filing, not through a correction later.
- Select the correct period — statements and challans for this quarter belong to tax year 2026-27; a wrong-period tag is the most common cause of unmatched challans this transition year.
- TCS teams: recalibrate the calendar — the 15 July habit is obsolete; Form 143 is due 31 July with everything else.
- Diarise certificates — Q1 Form 131 (old 16A) by 15 August 2026, downloaded from TRACES, not self-generated.
Common mistakes this transition quarter
- Filing Q1 on Form 24Q/26Q because the old template was lying in the tax folder — it belongs to periods up to 31 March 2026 only.
- Assuming the TCS statement was due 15 July and treating it as already late — it is due 31 July 2026 this year onwards.
- Missing that the penalty-relief window under Section 461 is now one month, and parking a delayed return for “later in the year” the way old Section 271H tolerated.
- Mixing correction statements of FY 2025-26 (old forms) with current-period filings (new forms) in the same workflow.
- Forgetting property purchases: the challan-cum-statement for TDS on buying property (old Form 26QB) is also renumbered (Form 141) — relevant if the business bought premises this quarter.
Frequently asked questions
What is the due date for the Q1 TDS return for FY 2026-27?
Quarterly TDS statements for April to June 2026 (tax year 2026-27) are due by 31 July 2026 — Form 138 for salary, Form 140 for resident non-salary payments and Form 144 for payments to non-residents. The TCS statement in Form 143 is due the same day. No extension has been notified as on 27 July 2026.
Which form replaces Form 26Q from FY 2026-27?
Form 140 replaces Form 26Q for TDS on resident non-salary payments. Form 138 replaces 24Q (salary), Form 144 replaces 27Q (non-residents) and Form 143 replaces 27EQ (TCS). These apply to statements for periods starting 1 April 2026 under the Income-tax Rules, 2026.
Has the TCS return due date changed under the Income-tax Act 2025?
Yes. The quarterly TCS statement (old Form 27EQ, now Form 143) earlier fell due on the 15th of the month after the quarter — 15 July for Q1. From tax year 2026-27 it is aligned with the TDS statements, so the Q1 TCS statement is also due 31 July 2026.
What is the late fee if I miss the 31 July 2026 deadline?
Section 427 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (which replaces Section 234E) levies Rs 200 per day of delay, capped at the amount of TDS or TCS in the statement. The fee must be deposited before the delayed statement is filed. Interest under Section 398 and penalty exposure under Section 461 are separate.
Can I avoid the Rs 10,000 to Rs 1 lakh penalty if I file late?
Only within a much narrower window than before. Under Section 461, penalty is not imposed if the tax with interest and late fee stands paid and the statement is filed within one month of the due date — for Q1 that means by 31 August 2026. The earlier law (Section 271H) allowed up to one year, so the cushion has shrunk sharply.
Do correction statements for FY 2025-26 use the new forms?
No. A correction relates to the period of the original statement, so corrections for FY 2025-26 and earlier quarters continue on the old forms (24Q, 26Q, 27Q, 27EQ). Only statements for periods beginning 1 April 2026 use Forms 138, 140, 143 and 144. Keep the two streams separate in your filing tracker.
Somesh Chandak & Associates assists MSMEs, startups and companies with quarterly TDS/TCS statement preparation, challan-deductee reconciliation, correction statements and TRACES follow-up — including the transition to the new Forms 138/140/143/144.
TDS Return Services Income Tax Services Talk to usDisclaimer: This article is for general information as on 27 July 2026 and is based on the Income-tax Act, 2025, the Income-tax Rules, 2026 and material available in the public domain. It is not professional advice or an opinion on any specific case. Provisions, forms, utilities and due dates may change by notification; please verify the current position or consult your advisor before acting. Somesh Chandak & Associates accepts no liability for action taken on this content without specific professional engagement.