The story
Rajan runs a small manufacturing unit in Gurugram’s IMT Manesar — twelve employees on payroll, GST-registered, a TDS deductor, EPFO and ESIC registered. In his mind, May’s compliance is simple: GSTR-3B by the 20th. That is the one date on his whiteboard every May.
May 2026 has seven more deadlines he has not written anywhere. The biggest is 31 May — the quarterly TDS return filing, unlike anything he files the rest of the year. For most employers and deductors the largest deadline of the month is 31 May, when the Q4 TDS returns for January–March 2026 are due in Forms 24Q, 26Q and 27Q.
Why owners chronically underestimate May
May feels quiet. The financial year just closed, annual-return season is months away, advance tax doesn’t start until 15 June, and ITR season is July. But May is the month that closes Q4: quarterly TDS returns across every form, PF and ESI for April payroll, the first GST returns of the new year, and several other filings landing quietly between the 10th and the 31st.
The complete May 2026 compliance map
| Date | Filing | Who files | Late penalty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 May (passed) | TDS/TCS deposit — April 2026 | All TDS deductors | 1.5% per month interest |
| 11 May | GSTR-1 — April 2026 | Monthly filers (AATO > ₹5 cr) | ₹50/day |
| 13 May | GSTR-7 / GSTR-8 | GST TDS deductors / e-commerce TCS collectors | ₹50/day |
| 15 May | PF + ESI — April payroll | All EPFO + ESIC employers | 12–25% p.a. interest |
| 15 May | Form 27EQ — Q4 TCS return | TCS collectors | ₹200/day |
| 20 May | GSTR-3B — April 2026 | Monthly GST filers | ₹50/day + 18% interest |
| 25 May | PMT-06 — April 2026 | QRMP scheme taxpayers | 18% interest |
| 30 May | LLP Form 11 — FY 2025-26 | All LLPs (even nil) | ₹100/day — no ceiling |
| 31 May | Q4 TDS returns 24Q + 26Q + 27Q | All TDS deductors | ₹200/day per form — 3 forms = ₹600/day |
The key deadlines explained
11 May — GSTR-1 (monthly filers): every invoice, credit and debit note issued in April. Your buyers depend on it for GSTR-2B; if you are late, their ITC is short and — under the new ITC Hard Block — their own GSTR-3B may be blocked. Above ₹5 cr AATO, every invoice should already carry an IRN.
15 May — PF + ESI: both employee and employer shares for April salary. Delayed PF attracts 12–25% p.a. interest, and Aadhaar/PAN validation on the ECR is mandatory or the contribution won’t credit correctly.
20 May — GSTR-3B (the one Rajan knows): the summary return for April. Under the ITC Hard Block active from 1 April 2026, if your ITC claim exceeds the GSTR-2B figure the portal blocks filing entirely — reconcile against your purchase register first and defer unmatched ITC rather than risk a blocked return.
30 May — LLP Form 11: the LLP annual return for FY 2025-26, with details of designated partners, contributions and any change in composition. ₹100/day with no cap — and even a nil-transaction LLP must file.
31 May — the Q4 TDS returns most owners miss
The largest deadline of the month — Forms 24Q, 26Q and 27Q for January–March 2026.
- Form 24Q (salary TDS): Q4 is the most data-intensive quarter, including Annexure-II with annual employee-wise reconciliation of salary, deductions, tax regime and total TDS. This generates Form 16 Part B via TRACES — so late Q4 filing directly delays Form 16, disrupting employees’ ITR filing, home-loan applications and visa documentation.
- Form 26Q (non-salary TDS): all TDS on vendor payments — contractors, professional fees, rent, interest — between January and March 2026.
- Form 27Q (non-resident TDS): any payments to foreign vendors, consultants or suppliers in the same quarter.
Key takeaways
| Key compliance point | What you must do |
|---|---|
| 31 May is the largest deadline — Q4 TDS returns (24Q, 26Q, 27Q) | Start Q4 data reconciliation today — salary data, vendor payments and PAN verification must be clean before filing |
| Q4 TDS returns are filed under ITA 1961, not ITA 2025 | Use old section numbers: 192 (salary), 194C (contracts), 194J (professional fees) — not Section 392/393 |
| Form 16 issuance depends on the 31 May Q4 filing | Late Q4 filing pushes Form 16 past 15 June — disrupting employees’ ITR, home-loan and visa documentation |
| LLP Form 11 due 30 May — often missed | Every LLP, even with no transactions, must file — ₹100/day, no ceiling |
But here is the other side…
For very small businesses — sole proprietorships, small traders on the GST composition scheme, businesses without employees — May’s load is genuinely lighter. A composition taxpayer’s CMP-08 for Q4 was due 18 April, so nothing major in May. A business without employees has no PF, ESI or Form 24Q; one with no non-resident vendors skips Form 27Q. The eight deadlines don’t all apply to every business at once — but every GST-registered, TDS-deducting employer with at least one vendor is managing six or more simultaneously, and the only safe assumption is that each one applies until you have confirmed it does not.
May 31 is three weeks away — start the Q4 data pull today
The Q4 TDS process — especially Form 24Q with Annexure-II — is the most data-intensive filing in the annual calendar. It needs employee-wise salary reconciliation, regime-wise deduction mapping, PAN verification for every deductee, and month-by-month reconciliation against challans deposited from January to March. Starting this on 29 May is not starting it. Starting it today is what makes 31 May manageable.
WeConsult India handles Q4 TDS return filing — Forms 24Q, 26Q and 27Q — for companies across Gurugram’s IMT Manesar, Sector 37 and Udyog Vihar, and manages Form 16 generation and TRACES download for all employees after Q4 filing. If you haven’t started your Q4 reconciliation, contact us today.
Stay compliant. Stay protected. — WeConsult India