Services
Quarterly TDS and TCS returns filed on time and correct the first time — deductions computed as transactions post, challans deposited by the 7th, Form 16 and 16A issued, TRACES defaults cleared. Including the switch from Forms 24Q, 26Q and 27Q to Forms 138, 140 and 144 under the Income-tax Act 2025.
What you get
TDS is the compliance most businesses get almost right. The rate is usually correct; the return is usually filed. The trouble is in the detail — a deduction made on payment instead of credit, a challan deposited on the 9th, a contractor’s PAN mistyped, a professional’s fee booked under the contract section — and every one of those details has a price: interest by the month, a late fee by the day, a default on TRACES, and a vendor whose credit has gone missing.
We run TDS as a monthly process, not a quarterly scramble. Deductions are computed as transactions post, challans are deposited by the 7th, returns are validated before they are filed, and TRACES is checked after each return so defaults are corrected before they become demands.
The dates that matter
Challan deposit
7th
TDS deducted in a month is due by the 7th of the next month — 30 April for March deductions.
Quarterly returns
31st
31 July, 31 October, 31 January and 31 May for TDS returns — and, from April 2026, for TCS returns too.
Late fee per day
₹200
Charged until the return is filed, up to the TDS amount — and payable before the return is accepted.
From 1 April 2026 the Income-tax Act 2025 is in force. No TDS rate or threshold changed, but every section number did: the 194-series is now a single Section 393 with numeric payment codes, and the return forms were renumbered by Rule 219 of the Income-tax Rules 2026.
| Purpose | To March 2026 | From April 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Salary | Form 24Q | Form 138 |
| Payments to residents | Form 26Q | Form 140 |
| Payments to non-residents | Form 27Q | Form 144 |
| TCS | Form 27EQ | Form 143 |
| Property, individual rent | 26QB / 26QC | Form 141 |
Returns for quarters up to March 2026 are still filed on the old forms under the 1961 Act. The full section-to-code mapping is in our FY 2026-27 TDS rate chart.
What we handle
Contractors under the contract section, professionals and technical services under the fees section, rent split between land and building and plant, commission, partners’ remuneration, purchases of goods above ₹50 lakh — each payee mapped once to the right section, rate and threshold.
Deductions computed as transactions post; challans prepared and deposited by the 7th. No interest at 1% a month for late deduction or 1.5% a month for late deposit.
Returns validated against challans and PANs before filing; Form 16 and quarterly certificates issued to every deductee from TRACES.
TRACES checked after every return. Short deductions, late-payment interest, PAN mismatches and challan errors corrected through revision returns before they turn into demands and notices.
| Lapse | Consequence |
|---|---|
| TDS not deducted | Interest 1% a month; 30% of the expense disallowed (100% for non-residents) |
| Deducted, deposited late | Interest 1.5% a month |
| Return filed late | ₹200 a day, up to the TDS amount |
| Return late or incorrect | Penalty ₹10,000 – ₹1 lakh |
| Wrong PAN or section | TRACES default and demand; deductee’s credit missing |
The penalty for a late return does not apply where the TDS, fee and interest have been paid and the return is filed within a short window — one year from the due date under the 1961 Act, but only one month under the Income-tax Act 2025. For tax year 2026-27 returns, a quarter allowed to drift is far more expensive than it used to be.
Why it is worth outsourcing
Filed in a rush each quarter
Run every month
For the rate, threshold and practical questions on each section, see our guides to TDS on contractors (194C), rent (194I), professional fees (194J), commission (194H), purchase of goods (194Q) and partners’ remuneration (194T), and the FY 2025-26 TDS rate chart. Businesses that want the whole cycle handled with their books can take it as part of our outsourced accounting retainer.
Methodology
We go through your payees — contractors, professionals, landlords, commission agents, partners, employees, non-residents — and settle the section (or, from 1 April 2026, the Section 393 payment code), the rate, the threshold, and whether a lower-deduction certificate or a PAN problem changes it. This is where most errors start, so it is done once, properly.
Deductions are computed as invoices and payments post — from your books, or from the data you send us. We prepare the challan and you pay it, or we pay it under your authorisation, by the 7th of the following month. March deductions are due by 30 April.
Form 24Q, 26Q, 27Q and 27EQ for quarters up to March 2026; Form 138 (salary), 140 (residents), 144 (non-residents) and 143 (TCS) from April 2026. Each return is validated against the challans and the PAN register before filing, by 31 July, 31 October, 31 January and 31 May.
Form 16 for employees and the quarterly certificates for other deductees, downloaded from TRACES and sent out within the time allowed — so your payees can file their own returns without chasing you.
After each return is processed we check the TRACES statement for defaults — short deduction, late deposit, PAN mismatches, challan errors — and file correction returns. Demands that can be removed by correction are removed before they become notices.
Scope
Common questions
Explore further
A CA-supervised team manages your daily ledgers, bank reconciliations, and monthly GST/TDS compliance prep — so your month-end close lands by day 3, not day 21.
Learn moreThe buyer bears 100% of the TDS obligation on any property purchase exceeding ₹50 Lakhs. We file Form 26QB, deposit the challan, and issue Form 16B to the seller — within the statutory 30-day window.
Learn moreThe department now cross-matches your return against AIS, TDS, and registrar data automatically. When a notice lands, we read it, quantify the exposure, and file a reasoned reply on the e-proceedings portal — fixed fee, quoted after we've seen the notice.
Learn moreNext step
Book a 30-minute discovery call. We'll scope the engagement, confirm deliverables, and give you a fixed-fee proposal within 48 hours.