{"id":6873,"date":"2026-08-19T15:22:43","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T15:22:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/juntrax.com\/blog\/?p=6873"},"modified":"2026-09-01T17:36:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T17:36:20","slug":"payroll-compliance-calendar-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juntrax.com\/blog\/payroll-compliance-calendar-india\/","title":{"rendered":"Payroll Compliance Calendar For India (2026-2027)"},"content":{"rendered":"

You run payroll on the 28th. Someone is on leave, two invoices are awaiting approval, and a client escalation eats up Wednesday. By the time anyone looks up, it is the 16th of the following month, and the provident fund challan has not gone out. Nothing dramatic happens that day. The notice arrives four months later, with interest already running from the 16th.<\/span><\/p>\n

Payroll compliance in India rarely fails because a team did not know the rules. It fails because the calendar lives in one person’s head, the deadlines cluster in the same three days of every month, and the upstream work that feeds those deadlines \u2014 timesheets, approvals, reimbursements \u2014 sits with people who have no idea a statutory clock is ticking.<\/span><\/p>\n

This payroll compliance calendar covers the financial year that runs from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027. It sets out the monthly, quarterly and annual obligations, what changed this year, what each miss costs, and how to build the calendar into how your firm operates instead of taping it to a wall.<\/span><\/p>\n

One caveat worth stating early: FY 2026-27 is not a repeat of last year. If your payroll calendar was rolled forward from FY 2025-26 without a review, several of the entries on it are now wrong.<\/span><\/p>\n

What Changed For FY 2026-27<\/b><\/h2>\n

Three shifts landed between November 2025 and May 2026, and all three touch payroll.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Income-tax Act, 2025 replaced the Income-tax Act, 1961 from 1 April 2026:<\/b> The Central Board of Direct Taxes notified the Income-tax Rules, 2026 on 20 March 2026 to operationalise it. For payroll teams, the practical consequences are the form numbers and the section references, not the arithmetic. Salary tax deduction now sits under section 392. The quarterly salary statement that everyone called Form 24Q is now<\/span> Form No. 138<\/span><\/a>, filed under Rule 219. The salary certificate that everyone called Form 16 is now<\/span> Form No. 130<\/span><\/a>. The Rules also expanded the list of cities eligible for higher house rent allowance exemption, raised exemption limits on specified allowances, and revised how food benefits, gifts, and motor car perquisites are valued, all effective 1 April 2026, as summarised in<\/span> EY’s alert on the new Rules<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The transition also created a split that still catches people. The governing law follows the pay period, not the filing date. Anything paid or credited up to 31 March 2026 stays under the old Act and the old forms, even when you file a correction in October 2026. Anything from 1 April 2026 onward uses the new forms.<\/span><\/p>\n

The four labour codes moved from law to rules:<\/b> The Code on Wages, the Industrial Relations Code, the Code on Social Security and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code came into force on 21 November 2025. On 8 May 2026, the Ministry of Labour and Employment notified the final Central Rules under all four, a step<\/span> KPMG describes as operationalising<\/span><\/a> wage calculation, social security coverage, working conditions and industrial relations. The nuance most calendars skip: the Central Rules apply where the central government is the appropriate government, which covers banking, insurance, telecom, mines, air transport, railways, major ports and central public sector undertakings. A 60-person consulting firm registered under a state Shops and Establishments Act is not in that list. For those firms, the codes apply, but the operational detail arrives with the state rules, and most states are still at draft stage.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maharashtra moved its professional tax deadlines forward:<\/b> A notification dated 28 February 2026 amended Rule 11(3) of the state’s professional tax rules, replacing the old month-end deadline with the 15th and moving the annual return from 31 March to 15 March. The change is reflected in the<\/span> Maharashtra GST department’s own professional tax notifications<\/span><\/a>. If your Pune or Mumbai payroll still files on the last working day, you are filing late.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Monthly Rhythm<\/b><\/h2>\n

Three dates repeat every month without exception. Everything else in the payroll compliance calendar is seasonal.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Date<\/b><\/td>\nObligation<\/b><\/td>\nCovers<\/b><\/td>\nGoverning law<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7th<\/span><\/td>\nDeposit tax deducted at source on salary<\/span><\/td>\nPrevious month’s deduction<\/span><\/td>\nIncome-tax Act, 2025, Rule 218<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
15th<\/span><\/td>\nDeposit provident fund contribution and file the electronic challan cum return<\/span><\/td>\nPrevious month’s wages<\/span><\/td>\nEPF and MP Act, 1952<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
15th<\/span><\/td>\nDeposit employees’ state insurance contribution<\/span><\/td>\nPrevious month’s wages<\/span><\/td>\nESI (General) Regulations, 1950, Regulation 31<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Two exceptions matter. Tax deducted in March is not due on 7 April. It is due on 30 April, and the Income Tax Department confirms this on its own<\/span> tax deducted at source compliance pages<\/span><\/a>. Second, provident fund has no grace period. Interest under section 7Q starts on the 16th, and the<\/span> EPFO’s employer FAQs<\/span><\/a> confirm that both penal interest under section 7Q and damages under section 14B apply to delayed dues.<\/span><\/p>\n

Professional tax adds a fourth monthly line in most states that levy it, on a state-specific date. Labour welfare fund does not run monthly in most states, which is exactly why it gets missed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Payroll Compliance Calendar For India: April 2026 To March 2027<\/b><\/h2>\n

The table below covers the full financial year. Dates shown are statutory limits. Treat them as the outer boundary and set your internal targets three to five working days earlier.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Month<\/b><\/td>\nDate<\/b><\/td>\nWhat Is Due<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
April 2026<\/span><\/td>\n15 April<\/span><\/td>\nPF and ESI contributions on March 2026 wages<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n15 April<\/span><\/td>\nProfessional tax for March, Maharashtra, under the amended Rule 11(3)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n30 April<\/span><\/td>\nDeposit of tax deducted in March 2026<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
May 2026<\/span><\/td>\n7 May<\/span><\/td>\nDeposit of tax deducted in April 2026<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n12 May<\/span><\/td>\nESI return of contribution for October 2025 to March 2026, being 42 days from the period end<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n15 May<\/span><\/td>\nPF and ESI contributions on April 2026 wages<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n31 May<\/span><\/td>\nQ4 salary statement for FY 2025-26, filed on the old Form 24Q under the 1961 Act<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
June 2026<\/span><\/td>\n7 June<\/span><\/td>\nDeposit of tax deducted in May 2026<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n15 June<\/span><\/td>\nPF and ESI contributions on May 2026 wages<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n15 June<\/span><\/td>\nIssue Form 16 to employees for FY 2025-26<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nBefore 1 April and 1 October<\/span><\/td>\nVariable dearness allowance recomputation for minimum wage purposes, where the Code on Wages Central Rules apply<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
July 2026<\/span><\/td>\n7 July<\/span><\/td>\nDeposit of tax deducted in June 2026<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n15 July<\/span><\/td>\nPF and ESI contributions on June 2026 wages<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n15 July<\/span><\/td>\nLabour welfare fund remittance in half-yearly states, following the June deduction<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n31 July<\/span><\/td>\nQ1 salary statement for Tax Year 2026-27 on Form 138<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
August 2026<\/span><\/td>\n7 August<\/span><\/td>\nDeposit of tax deducted in July 2026<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n15 August<\/span><\/td>\nPF and ESI contributions on July 2026 wages<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n15 August<\/span><\/td>\nIssue Q1 non-salary deduction certificates on Form 131<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
September 2026<\/span><\/td>\n7 September<\/span><\/td>\nDeposit of tax deducted in August 2026<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n15 September<\/span><\/td>\nPF and ESI contributions on August 2026 wages<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n30 September<\/span><\/td>\nEnd of the first ESI contribution period<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
October 2026<\/span><\/td>\n7 October<\/span><\/td>\nDeposit of tax deducted in September 2026<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n15 October<\/span><\/td>\nPF and ESI contributions on September 2026 wages<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n31 October<\/span><\/td>\nQ2 salary statement for Tax Year 2026-27 on Form 138<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
November 2026<\/span><\/td>\n7 November<\/span><\/td>\nDeposit of tax deducted in October 2026<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n11 November<\/span><\/td>\nESI return of contribution for April to September 2026<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n15 November<\/span><\/td>\nPF and ESI contributions on October 2026 wages<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n15 November<\/span><\/td>\nIssue Q2 non-salary deduction certificates on Form 131<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n30 November<\/span><\/td>\nStatutory bonus for the accounting year ended 31 March 2026, payable within eight months of the year end<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
December 2026<\/span><\/td>\n7 December<\/span><\/td>\nDeposit of tax deducted in November 2026<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n15 December<\/span><\/td>\nPF and ESI contributions on November 2026 wages<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nDecember payroll<\/span><\/td>\nLabour welfare fund deduction month in most half-yearly and annual states<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
January 2027<\/span><\/td>\n7 January<\/span><\/td>\nDeposit of tax deducted in December 2026<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n15 January<\/span><\/td>\nPF and ESI contributions on December 2026 wages<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n15 January<\/span><\/td>\nLabour welfare fund remittance in several states, following the December deduction<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n31 January<\/span><\/td>\nQ3 salary statement for Tax Year 2026-27 on Form 138<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
February 2027<\/span><\/td>\n7 February<\/span><\/td>\nDeposit of tax deducted in January 2027<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n15 February<\/span><\/td>\nPF and ESI contributions on January 2027 wages<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n15 February<\/span><\/td>\nIssue Q3 non-salary deduction certificates on Form 131<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
March 2027<\/span><\/td>\n7 March<\/span><\/td>\nDeposit of tax deducted in February 2027<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n15 March<\/span><\/td>\nPF and ESI contributions on February 2027 wages<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n15 March<\/span><\/td>\nProfessional tax annual return, Maharashtra<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n31 March<\/span><\/td>\nClose of the tax year, final investment proof reconciliation and last salary deduction for the year<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Two items fall just outside the window but belong on the same plan. Tax deducted in March 2027 is due by 30 April 2027. The Q4 statement for Tax Year 2026-27 is due by 31 May 2027, and Form 130, the new salary certificate, must reach employees by 15 June 2027. That sequence is not optional: the certificate is generated from the processed Q4 statement, so a late or defective 31 May filing pushes the 15 June certificate out with it, straight into the personal tax filing season when employees need it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Quarterly Filings Under The New Forms<\/b><\/h2>\n

The quarterly cadence did not change. The forms did.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Quarter<\/b><\/td>\nPeriod<\/b><\/td>\nStatement Due<\/b><\/td>\nCertificate To Employee<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Q1<\/span><\/td>\nApril to June 2026<\/span><\/td>\n31 July 2026<\/span><\/td>\nAnnexure I only<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Q2<\/span><\/td>\nJuly to September 2026<\/span><\/td>\n31 October 2026<\/span><\/td>\nAnnexure I only<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Q3<\/span><\/td>\nOctober to December 2026<\/span><\/td>\n31 January 2027<\/span><\/td>\nAnnexure I only<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Q4<\/span><\/td>\nJanuary to March 2027<\/span><\/td>\n31 May 2027<\/span><\/td>\nForm 130 by 15 June 2027<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The Income Tax Department’s guidance on Form 138 sets out the structure plainly: Annexure I goes with all four quarters, while Annexure II and Annexure III are required only in the Q4 filing. Filing is electronic; a submitted statement cannot be edited, and corrections run through a correction statement once the original has been processed. The correction window is two years from the end of the tax year in which the statement was due.<\/span><\/p>\n

If your payroll system, your consultant’s templates, or your internal checklist still reference Form 24Q for a post-April 2026 period, that is worth fixing before the next quarter rather than after a rejection.<\/span><\/p>\n

State-Level Obligations<\/b><\/h2>\n

This is where multi-location firms lose money, and where a national calendar stops being enough. Professional tax and labour welfare fund are state subjects. Applicability follows where the employee physically works, not where the company is registered. A firm headquartered in Gurugram with a delivery team in Bengaluru and a site office in Pune has three different state regimes to satisfy, even though its own head office state levies neither tax.<\/span><\/p>\n