A TDS/TCS compliance calendar for the quarter
TDS and TCS deadlines are the quiet workhorses of a practice calendar: predictable, recurring, and unforgiving when missed. A single late payment triggers interest, and a late return draws a fee that runs at a flat daily rate until you file. The fix is not heroics at quarter-end but a calendar everyone on the team can see and act on.
The monthly rhythm: deposit by the 7th
The spine of TDS compliance is the 7th of the following month. Tax deducted in a given month must reach the government by the 7th of the next month, via challan-cum-statement or regular challan depending on the section. There are two exceptions worth pinning to the wall:
- March deductions get a longer runway: the deposit due date is 30 April.
- TDS on property (Section 194-IA), rent (194-IB) and contractor/professional payments by individuals (194M) are deposited via challan-cum-statement (Form 26QB / 26QC / 26QD) within 30 days from the end of the month of deduction.
TCS collected under Section 206C is deposited on the same 7th of the following month logic, with no special March extension — collected tax for March is also due by 7 April.
For a typical April–June quarter, that means deposits land on 7 May, 7 June and 7 July. Build those three dates into recurring tasks so they never depend on one person remembering.
Quarterly returns: the dates that actually bite
Returns are where penalties accumulate fastest, because the late-filing fee under Section 234E runs at Rs 200 per day until the statement is filed (capped at the TDS/TCS amount). The forms by deductee type:
- Form 24Q — TDS on salaries.
- Form 26Q — TDS on payments other than salary to residents.
- Form 27Q — TDS on payments to non-residents.
- Form 27EQ — TCS returns.
The quarterly TDS return due dates (24Q/26Q/27Q) are:
- Q1 (Apr–Jun): 31 July
- Q2 (Jul–Sep): 31 October
- Q3 (Oct–Dec): 31 January
- Q4 (Jan–Mar): 31 May
TCS returns in Form 27EQ fall due earlier each quarter — 15 July, 15 October, 15 January and 15 May respectively. The mismatch in dates is a classic trap: teams reuse the TDS calendar and quietly miss the TCS deadline two weeks earlier.
Certificates: Form 16 and Form 16A
Issuing certificates closes the loop, and clients ask for them. After filing the quarterly return, generate the certificate from TRACES rather than typing one up:
- Form 16A (non-salary TDS) is due within 15 days of the return due date — so roughly 15 August, 15 November, 15 February and 15 June for the four quarters.
- Form 16 (salary) is annual and due by 15 June following the financial year.
Make certificate generation a dependent task that only opens once the return is filed and reconciled on TRACES — issuing a certificate before the return processes leads to mismatches the client will notice.
Working a single quarter, end to end
Take the April–June quarter as the worked example a practice runs every year:
- 7 May / 7 June / 7 July — deposit TDS and TCS for Apr, May, Jun.
- 15 July — file Form 27EQ (TCS) for Q1.
- 31 July — file Form 24Q / 26Q / 27Q for Q1.
- By 15 August — download and issue Form 16A from TRACES.
Two reconciliation checks save the most grief: match the challan amounts to the deducted figures before filing, and verify each deductee's PAN status so you do not get hit with the higher 20 percent rate or an inoperative-PAN demand. Run those checks a few days before the return date, not on the date itself.
Treat the TCS dates as separate from TDS — the 15th, not the end of the month, is what catches teams out.
How Bizotic One helps
Bizotic One keeps these recurring deadlines, per-client deductor details and certificate hand-offs in one workspace alongside your GST filings, invoicing and team tasks — so a missed deposit or a late 27EQ surfaces as an assigned task, not a year-end surprise. With filings, client CRM and team workload in the same view, the quarter's TDS and TCS calendar runs as routine work instead of a scramble.