Form 140 (Formerly 26Q): The Quarterly Non-Salary TDS Statement Deductors Must Not Miss

For the compliance calendar of Tuesday, 6 October 2026, the most consequential entry is a filing window rather than a market print. Any business or individual who deducted tax at source on a non-salary payment to a resident during the July-September 2026 quarter is now inside the run-up to the second-quarter statement deadline of 31 October 2026, filed on Form No. 140 - the return the Income Tax Department confirms was earlier known as Form 26Q. With the three-day Monetary Policy Committee meeting also running from 5 to 7 October 2026, tomorrow sits squarely between a statutory deadline and a rate decision, and both belong on the watchlist of anyone who runs payroll, pays rent, or settles vendor bills.

Statutory Deadlines

Form 140 (formerly Form 26Q) is the quarterly statement that every deductor of TDS on non-salary payments to residents must file. The Income Tax Department's e-filing user manual sets four fixed due dates across a financial year, and missing one is the single most common compliance slip for small and medium businesses. The table below reproduces the schedule confirmed on the official portal.

The nearest live window is Q2 of FY 2026-27, which covers deductions made between 1 July and 30 September 2026 and falls due on 31 October 2026 - 25 days after tomorrow. Deductors who leave it to the final week routinely discover PAN-validation errors or challan mismatches that cannot be corrected overnight, so 6 October 2026 is the right day to begin reconciling challans against the deductions booked in the September 2026 ledger. A clean TDS statement is also what lets each deductee see the credit in their Form 26AS and annual information statement, so a late or defective return quietly becomes the deductee's problem too.

Before the statement comes the tax itself. Under Rule 30 of the Income-tax Rules 1962, tax deducted by a non-government deductor during September 2026 must be paid to the credit of the Central Government by 7 October 2026, the day after tomorrow. The two dates are distinct: depositing the tax by 7 October 2026 does not discharge the separate obligation to file Form 140 by 31 October 2026. For the specified transaction-based deductions - section 194-IA on property purchases, 194-IB on rent above Rs 50,000 a month, 194-M on contractual payments, and 194S on virtual digital assets - the challan-cum-statement (Form 26QB, 26QC, 26QD and 26QE respectively) must instead be filed within 30 days from the end of the month in which the deduction was made.

The cost of slipping is codified, not discretionary. The table below sets out the three charges a deductor can face, each anchored to a section of the Income-tax Act 1961.

The Section 234E fee runs from the due date until the day the statement is actually filed, so a Form 140 lodged ten days after 31 October 2026 attracts Rs 2,000 before any Section 271H penalty is even considered. Deductors unsure of how much tax to withhold on a given payment can model the rate and threshold with the TDS calculator before they cut the cheque.

Market Events

The headline market event framing tomorrow is the Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee meeting, which runs from 5 to 7 October 2026, with the resolution scheduled for 7 October 2026. The policy repo rate currently stands at 5.25%, held unchanged at the August 2026 review in a unanimous vote that marked the fourth consecutive pause of 2026, after the February, April and June meetings. The policy corridor around it is set out below.

At the August 2026 meeting the MPC 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%, while retaining a neutral stance. For a deductor, the rate print is not academic: External Benchmark Lending Rate-linked business loans reset within roughly three months of any repo move, so a change announced on 7 October 2026 feeds into working-capital EMIs well before the Q3 TDS statement is due on 31 January 2027. The decision, and the Governor's commentary on the inflation path, will be published on rbi.org.in on the morning of 7 October 2026.

Earnings

No company results are confirmed in our editorial calendar for 6 October 2026, and this desk does not publish unverified earnings dates. India's Q2 FY 2026-27 results season conventionally gathers pace from the second half of October, but the exact board-meeting dates for individual companies are fixed by each issuer and notified to the exchanges, not forecast here. Investors who want to watch a specific result tomorrow should confirm it against the corporate-announcements sections of the BSE and NSE for 6 October 2026 rather than rely on a generic calendar.

What a deductor should take from the earnings angle is narrower and more certain: companies finalising September-quarter accounts are simultaneously closing the TDS books for the same quarter, and the two exercises share the same source ledger. Reconciling vendor TDS now, ahead of the 31 October 2026 Form 140 deadline, avoids the year-end scramble that forces restatements. Businesses that also pay quarterly advance tax should remember the second instalment fell due on 15 September 2026 and the third is due on 15 December 2026; the advance tax calculator helps square the two obligations.

FAQ

What is Form 140 and how is it different from Form 26Q?

Form No. 140 is the quarterly statement of TDS on non-salary payments made to residents, and the Income Tax Department's e-filing user manual confirms it was earlier known as Form 26Q. The substance is unchanged: the same deductors, the same four quarterly windows, and the same due dates of 31 July, 31 October, 31 January and 31 May apply under the renamed form.

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

The second-quarter statement covers deductions made between 1 July and 30 September 2026 and must be filed by 31 October 2026. That is 25 days after 6 October 2026, which is why reconciliation work should begin now rather than in the final week.

What happens if I miss the Form 26Q or Form 140 deadline?

A late statement attracts a fee of Rs 200 per day under Section 234E of the Income-tax Act 1961, capped at the total TDS reported in that statement. On top of that, Section 271H allows a penalty of Rs 10,000 to Rs 1,00,000 for failure to file or for filing an incorrect statement, so a delay of even ten days past 31 October 2026 can cost Rs 2,000 in fees alone.

Is the TDS deposit deadline the same as the return-filing deadline?

No. Under Rule 30 of the Income-tax Rules 1962, tax deducted by a non-government deductor in September 2026 must be deposited by 7 October 2026, whereas the Q2 statement on Form 140 is due later, on 31 October 2026. Paying the tax on time does not excuse a late statement, and a late statement does not waive interest on a late deposit.

Which payments are reported in Form 26Q or Form 140?

Form 140 captures TDS on non-salary payments to residents - typical examples include interest other than on securities, professional and contractual fees, commission, and rent above the prescribed thresholds. Salary TDS is reported separately on the Q4 salary statement, and transaction-specific deductions such as section 194-IA on property are filed through challan-cum-statements like Form 26QB within 30 days.

How can I estimate my TDS liability before filing?

The rate and threshold for each section can be modelled with the TDS calculator, and businesses managing both withholding and their own advance-tax instalments can cross-check the timing on the advance-tax tool, whose third instalment for FY 2026-27 is due on 15 December 2026. Reconciling these figures before 31 October 2026 reduces the risk of a Section 271H penalty for an incorrect statement.