Indian payroll deadlines and the employer calendar
Reviewed by Mellow Editorial Team, HR & payroll content team
Every payroll deadline in India ties back to one of four obligations: deducting and depositing TDS, filing quarterly returns, running EPF and ESI contributions, and issuing year-end documents to employees. Miss any of these and you face interest, penalties, or both.
The monthly rhythm: what you do every pay cycle
Most payroll compliance in India runs on a monthly clock.
TDS on salaries. Each month, you calculate the tax due on every employee's salary under the applicable income tax slab, deduct it at source, and deposit it to the government. The new regime slabs rise up to 30%, with a 4% health and education cess applied on top. Employees eligible for the section 87A rebate may have nil or reduced liability, but you still need to compute this properly each month rather than leaving it to year-end.
The deposit deadline for TDS deducted in a given month is the 7th of the following month. For amounts deducted in March, the deadline extends to 30 April.
EPF contributions. Both the employee and employer each contribute 12% of basic wages to the Employees' Provident Fund. The combined 24% must be deposited with the EPFO by the 15th of the following month. Late deposits attract interest and can create compliance issues that surface during audits or when an employee claims their PF balance.
ESI contributions. For employees whose wages fall below the applicable threshold, you also collect and deposit ESI contributions. The deposit deadline mirrors EPF — the 15th of the following month.
Running these three deposits as a batch on the same date each month is the simplest way to avoid missing any of them.
Quarterly obligations: TDS returns
Every quarter, you file Form 24Q with the Income Tax Department. This return consolidates the TDS deducted and deposited on salaries during that quarter.
The four quarters and their filing deadlines are:
- Q1 (April–June): 31 July
- Q2 (July–September): 31 October
- Q3 (October–December): 31 January
- Q4 (January–March): 31 May
Q4 has a later deadline because it coincides with year-end processing and the preparation of Form 16. Filing Form 24Q accurately is critical — errors here cascade into mismatches on employee tax returns and generate notices from the department.
Year-end obligations: Form 16 and reconciliation
By 15 June each year, you must issue Form 16 to every employee from whom TDS was deducted during the financial year. Form 16 has two parts: Part A summarises the TDS deposited against the employee's PAN, and Part B details the salary breakup and deductions claimed.
Before you can generate Form 16, you need to reconcile the figures. Check that every monthly TDS deposit matches what you reported in your four Form 24Q filings, and that the total deducted per employee matches what is reflected in their 26AS tax credit statement. Any gap means either a shortfall in deposit or an error in the return, both of which need correction before you issue the form.
For the current tax year 2026/27, Form 16 for 2025/26 should already have been issued by 15 June 2026.
Labour Code compliance from 2025
India's four consolidated Labour Codes — covering wages, industrial relations, social security, and occupational safety — have been in force from 2025. These codes affect how you define wages for the purpose of calculating EPF and ESI bases, what goes into full and final settlement, and how gratuity is computed.
Gratuity remains payable after five years of continuous service, but the wage definition under the codes influences the base on which it is calculated. Employers who are still running payroll on pre-Code wage structures should review whether their definitions align with the consolidated framework.
Building a practical employer calendar
A simple internal calendar reduces the risk of missed deadlines. Mark the following dates in your payroll system or finance calendar each month:
- 7th: TDS deposit for the previous month (30 April for the March deposit)
- 15th: EPF and ESI deposits for the previous month
Mark these quarterly:
- 31 July, 31 October, 31 January, 31 May: Form 24Q filing for each quarter
Mark these annually:
- 15 June: Issue Form 16 to all employees for the previous financial year
If you operate across multiple states or have contract workers, add state-specific Professional Tax due dates to this list — these vary by state and fall outside the central framework described here.
The best compliance habit is closing payroll on a consistent date each month, running all three deposits together, and keeping a checklist that is signed off before the next cycle begins.
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