Quarterly TDS returns have carried the familiar names for years: Form 24Q, 26Q, 27Q, and 27EQ. That changed from 1st April 2026, when the Income Tax Act, 2025, came into force and renumbered every one of these forms. Those still using the old names in payroll templates or filing checklists need to update them, since returns submitted under old numbers for this period get rejected on validation.

What the New Forms Cover

Each old form now has a direct replacement, and the underlying purpose hasn’t changed:

• Form 24Q is now Form 138, used for TDS on salary payments.
• Form 26Q is now Form 140, used for TDS on non-salary payments to residents.
• Form 27Q is now Form 144, used for TDS on payments to non-residents.
• Form 27EQ is now Form 143, used for Tax Collected at Source.

For Q1 of FY 2026-27, covering April to June, all four returns share the same due date, 31st July 2026. This is a genuine change for TCS filers, who used to submit Form 27EQ two weeks earlier than the TDS returns. Under Form 143, that gap has closed, and TCS collectors now follow the same schedule as everyone else.

Filing the Return Correctly

Before you build the return, reconcile every TDS deposit made during the quarter against your bank challans, and confirm each one was tagged under Tax Year 2026-27 rather than the older Assessment Year format. A mismatch here can misallocate a payment to the wrong year’s records and create reconciliation trouble later.

It helps to work through the filing in order:

1. Confirm the correct form for each deduction category, Form 138 for salary, Form 140 for resident non-salary, Form 144 for non-resident payments, and Form 143 for TCS.
2. Verify the updated section code for every payment type against the current CBDT mapping, rather than relying on last year’s codes from memory.
3. Match deductee PAN details carefully, since PAN errors are a common reason for correction filings later on.
4. Generate the return file using an RPU or FVU utility version that supports the new form numbers.
5. Submit the return on the portal and save the acknowledgement once accepted.
6. Issue TDS certificates to deductees soon after filing. The salary certificate, earlier called Form 16, now goes by the name Form 130, though its content and purpose haven’t changed.

Penalties and a More Stringent Correction Window

Missing the due date still carries the same consequences as before. A late fee of Rs 200 per day applies under Section 234E, capped at the total TDS or TCS amount for that quarter, with no discretion to waive it once a return is filed late. Persistent or inaccurate filing can also draw a penalty ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 100,000 under Section 271H.

One more change worth noting, corrections to a filed statement, such as fixing a wrong PAN or an incorrect section code, must generally be made within two years from the end of the relevant financial year. Older statements with uncorrected errors may fall outside this window soon, so it’s worth clearing them up alongside your current filing.

Conclusion

Filing Q1 FY 2026-27 correctly is less about learning something new and more about updating labels, codes, and templates that stayed unchanged for years. Confirm the right form for each payment category, verify section codes against the current mapping, and reconcile your challans before the 31st July deadline. Getting this first quarter right makes every filing after it considerably smoother.