TDS Return Filing
24Q, 26Q & 27Q — every quarter
Quarterly TDS return preparation and filing with challan reconciliation, Form 16/16A generation and default resolution.
What's included
- Challan mapping & reconciliation
- 24Q/26Q/27Q filing
- Form 16 / 16A generation
- TRACES default resolution
Understanding TDS Return Filing
If you deduct tax at source — on salaries, contractor payments, professional fees, rent or interest — depositing the TDS is only half the job. Every quarter you must also file a return telling the department exactly whose tax you deducted: Form 24Q for salaries, Form 26Q for payments to residents, and Form 27Q for payments to non-residents. These returns are what put TDS credit into each payee's Form 26AS; until you file, the tax you deposited is money the government holds but nobody can claim.
The deadlines repeat every year: 31 July for the April-June quarter, 31 October, 31 January and 31 May for the quarter ending March. Miss one and the meter starts immediately — a late fee of ₹200 per day under Section 234E, capped at the TDS amount, plus a possible penalty of ₹10,000 to ₹1,00,000 under Section 271H if the delay stretches past a year or the return has wrong details. With the Q1 FY 2026-27 return due 31 July 2026, this is not a deadline to discover in August.
Our service covers the full cycle: verifying challans against your books, validating PANs so no one gets hit with 20% higher deduction, preparing and filing the return, clearing any defaults on TRACES, and generating the certificates — Form 16 for employees by 15 June and Form 16A for other payees each quarter. At ₹1,499 per quarterly return, filed in 2-3 working days once documents are in, it is the cheapest insurance in your compliance calendar.
Who needs this?
Employers deducting TDS on salaries
Every employer deducting under Section 192 must file Form 24Q each quarter — it is also the source of the Form 16 you owe each employee by 15 June.
Businesses paying contractors and professionals
TDS under Sections 194C, 194J and similar on payments to residents goes into Form 26Q every quarter, with each payee's PAN and amount reported correctly.
Companies and firms of any size with a TAN
Once you hold a TAN and have deducted tax in a quarter, filing is mandatory for that quarter — there is no small-business exemption from TDS returns.
Anyone paying non-residents
Fees, royalties, or other payments to non-residents deducted under Section 195 are reported in Form 27Q, often alongside Form 15CA/CB — an area where mistakes are expensive.
Tenants paying high rent
Businesses paying rent above ₹50,000 per month or crossing Section 194-I thresholds have TDS and reporting obligations many discover only through a notice.
Deductors with TRACES default notices
Short-deduction, short-payment or late-fee defaults on TRACES need correction statements. We diagnose the default, fix the return and close the demand.
When this is NOT the right fit
| Your situation | What applies instead |
|---|---|
| ✕You made no payments requiring TDS this quarter | If no tax was deductible or deducted, no return is due for that quarter — though filing a nil declaration on TRACES is good practice to prevent non-filing notices. |
| ✕You are an individual buying property (Section 194-IA) | TDS on property purchase above ₹50 lakh is deposited through Form 26QB, a challan-cum-statement — no TAN or quarterly return is needed. We handle 26QB separately if you need it. |
| ✕You are a salaried individual with no TAN | TDS returns are filed by deductors, not deductees. If tax is being cut from your income, your concern is claiming the credit in your ITR — a different service. |
Not sure which applies to you? Message us — we'll point you to the right service in minutes, free.
Documents you'll need — and why
TAN and TRACES login credentials
Returns are filed against your TAN, and TRACES access is needed to check challan status, download the CSI file, clear defaults and generate Form 16/16A.
Challan details for all TDS deposited in the quarter
Every deduction reported must map to a deposited challan (CIN). Mismatched challans are the single most common cause of processing defaults.
Deductee details with PANs
Name, PAN, payment amount, date and section for each payee. An invalid PAN forces deduction at 20% or higher under Section 206AA, so we verify each one before filing.
Salary and TDS workings for employees (for 24Q)
Q4's Form 24Q carries full salary break-ups and deduction details for the year — this data becomes each employee's Form 16, so it must be exact.
Ledger or payment register for the quarter
We reconcile deductions against your expense ledgers to catch payments where TDS was missed entirely — better we find them than the department's AI does.
Previous quarter's filed return and acknowledgement
Needed for continuity, carried-forward challan balances, and to prepare correction statements if past returns had errors.
How it works, step by step
- 1
Data collection and reconciliation
Day 1You share challans, deductee details and ledgers; we reconcile deposits against deductions and flag any shortfall or missed deduction before it becomes a default.
- 2
PAN and challan validation
Day 1-2Every deductee PAN is verified and every challan matched against the bank's CSI file, eliminating the two most common causes of TRACES demands.
- 3
Return preparation and your review
Day 2We prepare the 24Q, 26Q or 27Q in the prescribed format, validate it through the File Validation Utility, and send you a summary for a quick confirmation.
- 4
Filing and acknowledgement
Day 2-3The return is filed and you receive the provisional receipt. We then monitor TRACES processing and resolve any default notice raised.
- 5
Certificate generation
Within 15 days of processingOnce processed, we generate and send Form 16A to your vendors each quarter, and Form 16 for employees after the Q4 return, before the 15 June deadline.
Due dates to know
Q1 (Apr-Jun) return
31 July
For FY 2026-27, that is 31 July 2026 — the next deadline.
Q2 (Jul-Sep) return
31 October
Q3 (Oct-Dec) return
31 January
Q4 (Jan-Mar) return
31 May
The Q4 24Q includes annual salary details that feed Form 16.
TDS deposit
7th of the following month
March deductions are due by 30 April.
Form 16 (salary)
15 June
Annual, after the Q4 return is processed.
Form 16A (non-salary)
Within 15 days of filing each quarterly return
What non-compliance costs
Return filed after the due date
₹200 per day under Section 234E for every day of delay, capped at the total TDS in the return. A ₹50,000 TDS return filed 100 days late costs ₹20,000 in late fee alone.
Return not filed within one year, or filed with incorrect details
Penalty of ₹10,000 to ₹1,00,000 under Section 271H, in addition to the 234E late fee.
TDS deducted but deposited late
Interest at 1.5% per month (or part thereof) from the date of deduction to the date of deposit; extended default can attract prosecution under Section 276B.
Deductee PAN invalid or not provided
Tax must be deducted at 20% or the applicable higher rate under Section 206AA, and the deductee cannot receive credit — leading to vendor disputes.
Form 16/16A issued late
₹100 per day per certificate under Section 272A(2)(g), and employees or vendors whose own tax filings get stuck.
Why doing this right pays off
Zero late fees
We track all four quarterly deadlines against your TAN and file early. Section 234E fees are entirely avoidable — our job is making sure you never pay one.
Defaults caught before TRACES catches them
PAN verification and challan reconciliation before filing means clean processing, instead of demand notices and correction statements after.
Vendors and employees get their credit on time
Deductions reflect in payees' Form 26AS soon after filing, and Form 16/16A go out on schedule — no awkward calls from vendors whose credit is missing.
Correction statements handled
Past errors — wrong PANs, misquoted challans, short deductions — are fixed through revised statements on TRACES, and existing demands are closed out.
A reconciled TDS trail for scrutiny
Quarter after quarter, your books, challans and returns all agree — the exact paper trail that makes TDS scrutiny and expense-disallowance questions short conversations.
Common DIY mistakes we see
- Depositing TDS on time but assuming the job is done — the quarterly return is a separate obligation, and 234E late fees accrue even when all tax was paid punctually.
- Quoting a wrong or unverified PAN, which blocks the payee's credit and can trigger a short-deduction demand at the 20% rate under Section 206AA.
- Mapping deductions to the wrong challan or section code, creating mismatch defaults that take a correction statement to unwind.
- Forgetting Form 27Q for a one-off payment to a non-resident, an area the department watches closely because Section 195 amounts are often large.
- Filing Q4's 24Q with rushed salary annexures, producing Form 16s that do not match employees' actual pay and a flood of correction requests in July.
Frequently asked questions
The tax being paid helps, but returns are a separate requirement — Section 234E late fees of ₹200 per day accrue per return, capped at each return's TDS amount, and 271H penalties become possible after a year. File the pending returns now; the fee stops growing only when you file.
Not sure if this is the right service?
Message us on WhatsApp — a real expert replies, usually within minutes.
All-inclusive professional fee. Government fees (if any) extra at actuals.
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Q1 TDS return (24Q/26Q) due
31 July 2026 — book now and beat the last-minute rush.