Form 138 (Formerly 24Q): The Quarterly Salary TDS Statement Every Employer Must File

For the trading day of Tuesday, 7 October 2026, the most consequential entry on the calendar is not a corporate result but a central-bank verdict: the Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) concludes a three-day meeting held on 5-7 October 2026 and rules on the 5.25% repo rate. Running quietly beneath that headline is a payroll-compliance clock every employer should already have started. The quarterly salary TDS statement, now numbered Form 138 (earlier Form 24Q), for the July-September 2026 quarter must reach the Income Tax Department by 31 October 2026. This watchlist maps both, with the arithmetic that matters.

Statutory Deadlines

The Income Tax Department's own user manual for Form No. 138 (earlier known as Form 24Q) describes it as the quarterly statement filed by employers and specified banks reporting TDS deducted on salary, pension, or interest income. In practice every company, firm, or deductor running a payroll files it four times a year, and the manual is explicit that timely filing matters to avoid penalties (incometax.gov.in). The form carries the salary breakup, the tax computed under the employee's chosen regime, and the challan details through which the deducted tax was paid to the government.

The four filing windows are fixed. The table below reproduces the due dates confirmed in the departmental manual for Form 138 (formerly 24Q):

For the current cycle, the live deadline is Q2 of FY 2026-27, covering July to September 2026, which must be filed by 31 October 2026. As of today, 6 October 2026, that leaves 25 clear days. Payroll teams that deducted TDS on salary across July, August, and September 2026 should reconcile every challan before uploading, because a mismatch between the Form 138 statement and the tax actually deposited is the single most common reason a return is flagged. Our TDS calculator lets you check the monthly deduction against the slab, and the TDS glossary entry sets out who must deduct and when.

Missing the 31 October 2026 date is not cost-free. Under section 234E of the Income-tax Act, a late-filing fee of Rs 200 accrues for each day the statement is delayed, capped at the amount of TDS involved, and section 271H can add a separate penalty for non-filing or for furnishing incorrect particulars. Because the figures in Form 138 flow straight into each employee's Form 26AS and Annual Information Statement, a delayed Q2 filing also delays the salary-tax credit employees rely on; the Form 16 glossary entry explains how the annual Form 16 is built from the four quarterly Form 138 statements.

The salary TDS cycle does not stand alone. The tax credits that a correctly filed Form 138 generates reduce the balance an individual must settle through self-assessment or advance tax, and the next advance-tax instalment for FY 2026-27, the third, falls due on 15 December 2026 under section 211 of the Income-tax Act. Salaried taxpayers with capital gains or interest income beyond their payroll should model the shortfall now rather than in December; the advance-tax calculator and the advance-tax glossary entry show how the instalment percentages stack up across the year.

Market Events

The headline event for 7 October 2026 sits with the RBI. The MPC meeting of 5-7 October 2026 is the sixth scheduled review of the calendar year, and it follows a run of restraint: the committee last met on 3-5 August 2026 and held the repo rate unchanged at 5.25% in a unanimous vote, its fourth consecutive pause after the February, April, June, and August 2026 meetings (rbi.org.in). Governor Sanjay Malhotra said at that review that the committee wanted greater clarity on the inflation outlook before acting, noting that while headline inflation ran above the 4% target it was driven by food and fuel with little sign of generalised price pressure.

The current policy corridor, as it stands going into the 7 October 2026 decision, is set out below:

At the August 2026 meeting the committee also revised its FY 2026-27 projections, raising GDP growth by 10 basis points to 6.7% and lowering CPI inflation by 10 basis points to 5.0%. Those two numbers frame the debate for 7 October 2026: growth running near 6.7% gives the MPC room to wait, while inflation pencilled at 5.0% remains above the 4% midpoint of the 2-6% tolerance band, which is the usual argument against an early cut. The repo-rate glossary entry explains how the rate feeds the external-benchmark lending rate (EBLR) that most floating-rate home and personal loans are tied to.

The transmission is what makes this a watchlist item rather than a technicality. EBLR-linked floating loans reset within roughly three months of any repo change, so a hold on 7 October 2026 keeps existing equated monthly instalments steady, while a 25-basis-point cut from 5.25% would flow through to borrowers by early 2027. Depositors face the mirror image: a lower repo tends to pull fixed-deposit and small-savings returns down, which is one reason systematic investing in equity through a disciplined monthly plan has held its appeal. Readers weighing that trade-off can run the numbers through our SIP calculator before the policy statement lands.

Earnings

No company results are confirmed in the editorial briefing for Tuesday, 7 October 2026, so this watchlist names none; inventing an earnings calendar would breach our zero-hallucination rule on financial dates. The Indian Q2 FY 2026-27 reporting season (covering July to September 2026) conventionally opens in the second week of October, but no specific board-meeting or results date has been verified for 7 October 2026, and we do not publish a date we cannot source.

That leaves the day dominated by two things an employer or investor can act on with certainty: the RBI verdict on the 5.25% repo rate, due 7 October 2026, and the countdown to the 31 October 2026 Form 138 (24Q) filing deadline for the July-September 2026 quarter. When a confirmed Q2 results calendar is available, a future watchlist will carry it; until then, treat any circulating earnings date for 7 October 2026 as unverified.

FAQ

What is Form 138, and how does it relate to Form 24Q?

Form 138 is the current number for the quarterly salary TDS statement that was earlier known as Form 24Q, per the Income Tax Department's user manual (incometax.gov.in). It is filed by employers and specified banks to report TDS deducted on salary, pension, or interest income, and it is filed four times each financial year.

When is the next Form 138 (24Q) deadline?

For FY 2026-27, the Q2 statement covering July to September 2026 is due on 31 October 2026. The remaining quarters follow the fixed cycle: Q3 (October to December) by 31 January, and Q4 (January to March) by 31 May of the following financial year.

What happens if an employer files Form 138 late?

Section 234E of the Income-tax Act levies a late-filing fee of Rs 200 for each day of delay, capped at the amount of TDS in the statement, and section 271H can impose a further penalty for non-filing or incorrect particulars. A late filing also delays the salary-tax credit appearing in each employee's Form 26AS.

Is the RBI expected to change the repo rate on 7 October 2026?

The repo rate stood at 5.25% going into the 5-7 October 2026 meeting, held unchanged since the unanimous pause on 5 August 2026, the fourth consecutive hold. Oquilia does not forecast the decision; verify the outcome against the official statement at rbi.org.in on 7 October 2026.

How does the repo rate affect my home loan EMI?

Most floating-rate loans are linked to an external-benchmark lending rate (EBLR) that tracks the repo rate, currently 5.25%, and these reset within roughly three months of any change. A hold keeps your EMI steady; a cut would lower it with a lag, while a rise would increase it.

Does filing Form 138 reduce my advance-tax liability?

Yes. The TDS reported in Form 138 appears as a credit in your Form 26AS, which reduces the net tax payable through advance tax. The third advance-tax instalment for FY 2026-27 falls due on 15 December 2026 under section 211 of the Income-tax Act.

Where can I check my salary TDS before the deadline?

Use the Oquilia TDS calculator to estimate the monthly deduction against the applicable slab, then reconcile it with the challans before the 31 October 2026 Form 138 filing date for the July-September 2026 quarter.