Form 26Q is the quarterly TDS statement for non-salary payments made to residents: contractor bills, professional and technical fees, rent, commission, interest and similar items. Salary goes in Form 24Q instead. For payments from 1 April 2026, under the Income-tax Act, 2025, Form 26Q has been replaced by Form 140, filed under section 397(3)(b) and Rule 219 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026.

What goes into it

Each quarter the deductor reports every challan deposited and, against each challan, the deductee’s PAN, the amount paid or credited, the section, the rate and the tax deducted. The data flows to the vendor’s Form 26AS, and the statement is the basis for the TDS certificate the deductor downloads and issues (Form 16A under the 1961 Act; secondary sources report Form 131 as its successor).

For an HR team, the 26Q entries that matter are usually not salary at all: retainers paid to consultants and freelance trainers, fees to background-verification agencies and recruiters, office rent and payments to independent contractors who are not on payroll. Classify a person wrongly and their TDS ends up in the wrong form.

Due dates and the 2026 changeover

Corrections for quarters up to March 2026 are still filed against Form 26Q. The section codes change too: the 2025 Act folds the old 194C, 194J, 194-I, 194H and 194A into one table in section 393, per the ICAI tabular mapping, so payroll and accounts software needs new section codes for the Form 140 quarters.

Late filing

A late statement attracts a daily fee (section 234E, which is section 427 of the 2025 Act) capped at the TDS amount, and a penalty can follow if the statement is not filed for a long period or is filed with wrong data. A common trap is filing on time but quoting a PAN with a typo, which leaves the vendor with no credit and generates a short-deduction notice.

Frequently asked questions

Is TDS on property purchase reported in Form 26Q?

No. Purchase of immovable property, certain rent paid by individuals and some contract payments by individuals use separate challan-cum-statements (26QB, 26QC, 26QD under the 1961 Act), not the quarterly 26Q.

Do small employers with no salary TDS still file Form 26Q?

Yes, if they deducted any non-salary TDS in the quarter; the filing obligation follows the deduction, not the size of the business or the existence of a salary TDS return.

Which form do I use for a foreign consultant?

Payments to non-residents go in Form 27Q (Form 144 from April 2026), not Form 26Q.

Keep all quarterly TDS deadlines in one place with the HR and payroll compliance calendar.