Payroll & statutory · Updated October 2026
Form 24Q is the quarterly TDS return an employer files for salary payments. It reports, for every employee, the salary paid and the tax deducted and deposited in that quarter. It is the employer-side counterpart to the employee’s Form 16: the data in Form 24Q is what generates Form 16 Part A on the TRACES portal.
Form 24Q has two annexures. Annexure I is filed every quarter and lists deductee-wise details of salary paid and TDS deducted, along with challan details for the deposits. Annexure II is filed only with the fourth-quarter return and carries the full-year salary computation for each employee: the breakup, exemptions, Chapter VI-A deductions, chosen regime, and total tax. Annexure II is effectively the source of Form 16 Part B.
Form 24Q is a 1961-Act form. For salary paid from 1 April 2026, salary TDS is deducted under Section 392 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 and the quarterly statement is Form 138, while the certificate it feeds becomes Form 130. Form 24Q still covers the quarters up to January to March 2026. The fee and penalty section numbers quoted below are also 1961-Act references, so confirm the current ones on the tax portal before citing them in a notice reply.
| Quarter | Period | Due date |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Apr to Jun | 31 July |
| Q2 | Jul to Sep | 31 October |
| Q3 | Oct to Dec | 31 January |
| Q4 | Jan to Mar | 31 May |
Late filing attracts a fee of Rs 200 per day under Section 234E, capped at the TDS amount, plus a possible penalty under Section 271H. Errors in PAN or challan linkage are the usual reason an employee’s tax credit does not show up in Form 26AS, so accuracy here matters to every employee on the payroll.
The employer, as the deductor. The employee never files it; they only receive the Form 16 that results from it.
Yes. A correction statement can be filed to fix PAN errors, challan mismatches or wrong amounts, and it is the normal way to repair a credit that is missing from an employee’s 26AS.
No. Form 24Q is for salary TDS under Section 192 (Section 392 and Form 138 from tax year 2026-27). Form 26Q is for TDS on non-salary payments to residents, such as contractor or professional fees.
For the numbers that feed Annexure II, use the Income Tax Calculator and the TDS on Salary Calculator. Getting quarterly returns right with no manual rework is a core reason to run payroll software.