What is the due date for the Q2 TDS return for tax year 2026-27?

31 October 2026 for Forms 138, 140, 143 and 144.

Can I file a TDS return directly on TRACES?

Yes. TRACES now supports online preparation, validation and filing of original and correction statements in Forms 138, 140, 143 and 144. The RPU and FVU route also remains available.

Which RPU and FVU should I use?

RPU 1.2 and FVU 1.2 for tax year 2026-27 onwards; RPU 6.0 and FVU 9.5 for FY 2010-11 to FY 2025-26.

What replaced Form 16 and Form 16A?

Form 130 (salary) and Form 131 (non-salary). Form 16 is still used for FY 2025-26.

What is the late fee for a delayed TDS statement under the new Act?

₹200 per day under section 427 (old section 234E), capped at the amount of tax deductible or collectible.

How do I correct a TDS return for FY 2025-26 now?

File the correction under the Income-tax Act, 1961, using the old form (24Q, 26Q, 27Q or 27EQ), RPU 6.0 and FVU 9.5, or through the "Compliance under the Income-tax Act, 1961" menu on TRACES where applicable.

TRACES Updates & TDS Circulars 2026: Deductor Guide

TRACES updates for tax year 2026-27: new TDS forms 138, 140, 143 and 144 and quarterly due dates

TDS has changed more in 2026 than in any year since TRACES launched. The Income-tax Act, 2025 and the Income-tax Rules, 2026 took effect on 1 April 2026, renumbering every TDS statement and certificate. TRACES now lets deductors prepare and file statements online, and CBDT has issued detailed FAQs on how the old and new laws interact.

This guide brings together the TRACES updates, CBDT circulars and official FAQs that a TDS team at a corporate, bank or CA firm needs for tax year 2026-27.

Quick answer:

From tax year 2026-27, quarterly TDS/TCS statements are Form 138 (salary, old 24Q), Form 140 (residents, old 26Q), Form 144 (non-residents, old 27Q) and Form 143 (TCS, old 27EQ). The Q2 statement is due 31 October 2026. You can file on TRACES online or with RPU 1.2 and FVU 1.2. Statements and corrections for FY 2025-26 and earlier still use the old forms, RPU 6.0 and FVU 9.5.

1. New TDS and TCS form numbers

What it is	Old form (1962 Rules)	New form (2026 Rules)
Quarterly statement: salary	24Q	138
Quarterly statement: payments to residents	26Q	140
Quarterly statement: TCS	27EQ	143
Quarterly statement: payments to non-residents	27Q	144
Challan-cum-statement (property, rent, contracts, VDA)	26QB / 26QC / 26QD / 26QE	141 (single form)
Statement by Government offices (PAO)	24G	137
TDS certificate: salary	16	130
TDS certificate: non-salary	16A	131
Certificates for challan-cum-statements	16B / 16C / 16D / 16E	132
TCS certificate	27D	133
Lower / nil deduction certificate application	13	128
Self-declaration for no TDS	15G and 15H	121 (single form)
Foreign remittance forms	15CA / 15CB	145 / 146
Annual tax statement	26AS / AIS	168
TAN application	49B	134 (Government) / 135 (others)

Quarterly statements are filed under section 397(3)(b) of the new Act and rule 219 (old rule 31A). Certificates are issued under section 395(4) and rule 215.

2. Section codes: quote the table entry, not 194-series

TDS provisions in sections 192 to 194T are now in section 392 (salary) and section 393 (all other payments, in three tables). TCS is in section 394. Rates and thresholds were carried over unchanged.

In tax year 2026-27 statements you quote the section 393 table entry. CBDT's example: a contractor payment once reported under 194C is now 393(1) [Table: Sl. No. 6(i)]. CBDT warns that quoting old section codes may cause validation errors and force a correction statement.

Which law applies to a payment? The earlier of the date of credit or payment decides:

On or before 31 March 2026: Income-tax Act, 1961.
On or after 1 April 2026: Income-tax Act, 2025.
For salary, the date of payment decides.

Use our free TDS rate chart and section mapper to map old sections to the new table entries.

3. What is new on TRACES

These updates were live on the TRACES home page on 7 October 2026:

Online filing of TDS/TCS statements. Original and correction statements in Forms 138, 140, 143 and 144 can be prepared, validated and filed on the TRACES portal, without an offline utility. Online filing of original statements for Q2 of tax year 2026-27 is enabled.
Offline route still available. CBDT's Form 140 guidance still describes preparing the statement with RPU, validating it with FVU and uploading it, so online filing on TRACES is an additional option, not the only one.
Update your profile first. TRACES asks deductors to update mobile number, email, address and PAN-Aadhaar linking in the profile before filing online.
Challan correction is available for tax year 2026-27. Corrections for FY 2025-26 and earlier go through the "Compliance under the Income-tax Act, 1961" menu. See our step-by-step guide to TDS challan correction on TRACES.
Form 141 corrections are available for Schedules A, B, C and D (cash). Schedule D (kind) is listed as coming shortly.
Downloads for tax year 2026-27: TDS certificates, default summaries, justification reports, Conso files and PAN error reports.
Bulk certificate generation: deductors having trouble generating large numbers of certificates are asked to install the latest utility, version 2.1 Beta.
New Conso file formats under the Income-tax Act, 2025: one for Form 138 and one for Forms 140, 143 and 144. Update any in-house parsers that read Conso files.
Form 26A requests for FY 2025-26 and earlier PAN-based statements (26QB/26QC/26QD/26QE) are available under the 1961 Act compliance menu.
Form 137 (old 24G) filing for PAOs is listed as coming shortly, through TRACES only.
DIN verification is enabled for tax year 2026-27.
Fraud warning: CPC-TDS says genuine communications come only from the @tdscpc.gov.in domain.

4. RPU and FVU versions

From the Protean TIN site (updated 7 October 2026):

Period	Return Preparation Utility	File Validation Utility
Tax year 2026-27 onwards	RPU 1.2	FVU 1.2
Up to FY 2025-26	RPU 6.0	FVU 9.5 (FY 2010-11 to FY 2025-26)
Up to FY 2009-10	—	FVU 2.191

Protean advises using RPU and FVU 1.2 for both regular and correction statements under the Income-tax Act, 2025.

5. Due dates for tax year 2026-27

Quarterly TDS/TCS statements (Forms 138, 140, 143 and 144)

Quarter	Period	Due date
Q1	April–June 2026	31 July 2026
Q2	July–September 2026	31 October 2026
Q3	October–December 2026	31 January 2027
Q4	January–March 2027	31 May 2027

The Q4 statements of FY 2025-26 (24Q, 26Q, 27Q, 27EQ) were due on 31 May 2026 under the 1961 Act.

TDS deposit (rule 218, old rule 30): by the 7th of the following month; for March deductions by non-Government deductors, by 30 April. Challan-cum-statements are due within 30 days from the end of the month of deduction.

Certificates

Certificate	Due date
Form 130 (salary)	15 June after the tax year (15 June 2027 for tax year 2026-27)
Form 131 (non-salary) and Form 133 (TCS)	15 August, 15 November, 15 February and 15 June
Form 132	Within 15 days of the due date of the challan-cum-statement

Certificates are valid only if generated from TRACES.

Correction window:

a statement under the 2025 Act can be corrected up to two years from the end of the tax year in which it was due. For example, a Q2 tax year 2026-27 statement can be corrected until 31 March 2029.

6. Interest, late fee and disallowance

Consequence	1961 Act	2025 Act	Amount
Interest for failure to deduct	201(1A)	398(3)(a)	1% a month
Interest for failure to deposit after deduction	201(1A)	398(3)(a)	1.5% a month
Late fee for delayed statement	234E	427	₹200 a day, capped at the TDS/TCS amount; must be paid before the statement is filed
Disallowance of expense for TDS default	40(a)(ia)	35(b)	30% of the sum

An order treating a deductor as an assessee in default under section 398(5) can be passed up to the later of six years from the end of the tax year, or two years from the end of the tax year in which a correction statement is filed.

Estimate exposure with our TDS interest calculator and TDS late filing fee calculator.

7. Lower deduction certificates: Form 13 is now Form 128

New applications are made in Form 128, online on TRACES only.
Certificates applied for and issued by 31 March 2026 are protected under section 536.
Applications pending on 1 April 2026 for tax year 2026-27 are treated as filed under the 2025 Act; applications made from 1 April 2026 are dealt with entirely under it.
An old section 197 certificate issued for projected tax year 2026-27 receipts stays valid for payments on or after 1 April 2026.
TRACES is issuing tax year 2026-27 certificates under the 2025 Act for Form 13 applications filed up to 31 March 2026. Where one old section (such as 194A or 194J(b)) corresponds to several new entries, the certificate is mapped to all of them.

8. CBDT circulars in 2026 that affect TDS teams

CBDT's circulars page lists Circulars 1/2026 to 7/2026 as of 7 October 2026. The TDS-relevant ones:

Circular No. 2/2026: extended the due date for issuing TDS certificates for the quarter ending 31 December 2025 to 31 March 2026, because of e-filing portal issues.
Circular No. 7/2026 (28 September 2026): extended the tax audit report due date for AY 2026-27 to 21 October 2026 and the return due date for audit cases to 21 November 2026. Not a TDS circular, but it shifts year-end reconciliation work for many deductors.

Alongside the circulars, CBDT's FAQs on Interplay and Transition from the Income-tax Act, 1961 to the Income-tax Act, 2025 (Topic 6 covers TDS and TCS) and the FAQs and guidance notes on forms under the Income-tax Rules, 2026 are the most detailed official guidance for deductors this year.

9. Old-period work after 1 April 2026

Corrections for Q1 to Q4 of FY 2025-26 and earlier are filed under the 1961 Act, in the old forms and formats. RPU and TRACES support both formats.
Form 16 for FY 2025-26 and Form 16A for Q4 of FY 2025-26 were due on 15 June 2026. A late Form 16A for FY 2025-26 attracts penalty under old section 272A(2)(g).
Refund of excess TDS deducted under the old Act is claimed in old Form 26B.
AIS continues up to AY 2026-27. From tax year 2026-27 it is replaced by Form 168.

Checklist before you file Q2 (due 31 October 2026)

TRACES profile updated: mobile, email, address, PAN-Aadhaar link
Section codes in the ERP mapped to section 392/393/394 table entries
RPU 1.2 and FVU 1.2 installed, or online filing on TRACES chosen
Q1 justification report and default summary downloaded and cleared
Challans verified and corrected where needed before filing
Form 128 certificates mapped to the right deductee PANs and table entries
Form 121 declarations collected for nil-deduction cases
Conso file parsers updated to the new formats

How Figment helps

TaxCPC is built for high-volume deductors such as banks and large corporates, with TRACES integration, bulk PAN and lower deduction certificate verification and a justification report before filing, so defaults are caught before the statement goes in. Reconcile tax credits with 26ASCPC and track TDS default notices with NoticeCPC.