TDS Forms for FY 2026-27: The Complete Guide to Every New Form Under the Income-Tax Act 2025
Every deductor in India is about to file a TDS return on a form that did not exist a year ago. The TDS forms for FY 2026-27 have been completely renumbered under the Income-tax Act, 2025, replacing decades-old references like Form 24Q and Form 26Q with new form numbers such as 138 and 140. If your payroll team, accounting software, or Chartered Accountant is still preparing returns using the old form names for payments made after 1 April 2026, that return will fail validation on TRACES the moment it is uploaded.
This guide maps every single one of the TDS forms for FY 2026-27 against its old-Act equivalent, explains exactly which form applies to which quarter during this transition year, and walks through the new TRACES payment codes that have replaced familiar section numbers like 194C and 194J. By the end, you will know precisely which form to file, when to file it, and how to avoid the validation errors that are already tripping up thousands of deductors across India this filing season.
Why the TDS Forms Changed for FY 2026-27
The Income-tax Act, 2025 came into force on 1 April 2026, replacing the Income-tax Act, 1961 for all income, transactions, and compliance obligations arising from that date onwards. This is not a minor amendment. It is a full legislative replacement, and the government used the opportunity to renumber and consolidate every TDS and TCS form to align with the new Act’s structure.
Under the old law, TDS provisions were scattered across dozens of individual sections — 192 for salary, 194A for interest, 194C for contractors, 194J for professional fees, 194I for rent, and many more. Each provision carried its own quoted section number inside the relevant return. The TDS forms for FY 2026-27 abandon this fragmented approach. Salary TDS now sits entirely under a single Section 392, while nearly all non-salary TDS provisions have been consolidated under one comprehensive Section 393, organised as a table of numbered payment types.
What Has Not Changed: The Income Tax Department has been explicit that this is fundamentally a reorganisation exercise, not a policy overhaul. TDS rates, thresholds, and the basic deduction mechanism remain almost entirely the same as before. What has changed is how each transaction is referenced, reported, and filed — the form numbers, the section citations inside those forms, and the numeric payment codes that now stand in place of the old section numbers.
For deductors, this means the underlying compliance obligation has not become more complex in substance. However, the transition itself carries genuine operational risk. A business that has spent fifteen years correctly quoting Section 194C for contractor payments must now quote a numeric payment code inside Form 140 — and getting this wrong makes the return defective.
Complete Old-to-New TDS Forms Mapping
The table below is the single most useful reference for understanding the TDS forms for FY 2026-27. Every quarterly return, challan-cum-statement, and certificate has a direct one-to-one or consolidated mapping from the old Act to the new Act.
| Old Form (Income-tax Act, 1961) | New Form (Income-tax Act, 2025) | Purpose | Governing Section |
|---|---|---|---|
| Form 24Q | Form 138 | Quarterly salary TDS return | Section 392 |
| Form 26Q | Form 140 | Quarterly domestic non-salary TDS return | Section 393(1) |
| Form 27Q | Form 144 | Quarterly non-resident TDS return | Section 393(2) |
| Form 27EQ | Form 143 | Quarterly TCS return | Section 394 |
| Forms 26QB, 26QC, 26QD, 26QE | Form 141 | Challan-cum-statement for property, rent, and specified transactions | Section 393(1) |
| Form 16 | Form 130 | Annual salary TDS certificate | Section 392 |
| Form 16A | Form 131 | Quarterly non-salary TDS certificate | Section 393 |
| Form 27D | Form 133 | TCS certificate | Section 394 |
| Form 15G / Form 15H | Form 121 | Declaration for nil or lower TDS | Section 395 |
| Form 13 | Form 128 | Certificate for lower or nil deduction | Section 395 |
| Form 15CA / Form 15CB | Form 145 / Form 146 | Foreign remittance reporting | Section 393(2) |
Expert Insight: Multiple independent sources — including CA practice notes and compliance software vendors — consistently confirm this exact mapping. If you encounter a source online claiming different numbers, such as Form 24Q becoming “Form 137” instead of “Form 138,” treat it with caution. The overwhelming weight of verified guidance, cross-checked across compliance software providers, professional bodies, and CA firms, confirms the mapping in the table above.
Form 138 — The New Salary TDS Return
Form 138 replaces Form 24Q as the quarterly return that every employer files for tax deducted from employee salaries. It is governed by Section 392 of the Income-tax Act, 2025, and its underlying structure closely mirrors the old form.
Form 138 continues to require employee-wise salary and TDS details across all four quarters. Annexure I is required for every quarter, while the more detailed Annexure II (containing full salary computation) and Annexure III (for pension and senior citizen interest cases) apply only to the Q4 filing, consistent with how Form 24Q operated previously.
HR and Payroll Alert: Employers must now factor in the revised HRA exemption rules when computing salary TDS under Form 138. The 50% metro city classification for HRA exemption has been extended beyond the traditional four metros to include Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, and Ahmedabad. Incorrect HRA computation directly leads to short deduction of TDS, which then triggers both interest liability and potential expense disallowance for the employer.
Form 140 — Domestic Non-Salary TDS Return
Form 140 is the direct replacement for Form 26Q and is, by transaction volume, likely the most frequently filed of all the new TDS forms for FY 2026-27. It captures TDS on payments to resident deductees other than salary — contractor payments, professional fees, rent, commission, interest, and dozens of other categories now consolidated under Section 393(1).
The structural content of Form 140 is similar to the old Form 26Q — deductor details, challan information, and deductee-wise TDS breakup — but every line item must now cite a numeric payment code rather than the familiar section number.
Real Scenario — Meera’s Consulting Firm, Pune: Meera runs a mid-sized consulting practice that pays roughly forty vendors every quarter, spanning contractors, IT freelancers, and office space rent. Her accountant initially prepared the Q1 Tax Year 2026-27 Form 140 using the old habit of quoting Section 194C for contractor payments. The TRACES portal rejected the upload with a validation error. After remapping every line item to its correct payment code, the return was accepted on the second attempt — but this cost three days of delay and required a fresh DSC signing cycle.
Form 144 — Non-Resident TDS Return
Form 144 replaces Form 27Q and covers TDS deducted on payments made to non-resident individuals and foreign companies. It falls under Section 393(2) and continues to use the same broad categories as before — interest, royalty, fees for technical services, and other specified payments to non-residents.
A notable procedural simplification applies within this category: where a resident buyer purchases immovable property from a non-resident seller, the buyer’s own PAN now serves as the identifier for TDS deduction and deposit. Previously, the buyer had to separately obtain a Tax Deduction Account Number solely for this one transaction, which created significant friction in cross-border property deals. That requirement has been removed, though a distinct return is still required for such transactions rather than routing them through the standard Form 140.
Form 141 — The Consolidated Challan-Cum-Statement
Among all the TDS forms for FY 2026-27, Form 141 represents the most meaningful consolidation. It merges four previously separate forms — 26QB (property purchase), 26QC (rent by individuals/HUFs), 26QD (specified contractor and professional payments by individuals/HUFs), and 26QE (transfer of virtual digital assets) — into a single form with distinct internal schedules for each transaction type.
Form 141 must be filed within 30 days from the end of the month in which the relevant tax was deducted. Unlike the quarterly returns, this is a transaction-triggered filing rather than a periodic one, and it applies whenever the underlying payment or credit event occurs on or after 1 April 2026.
Form 143 — The New TCS Return
Form 143 replaces Form 27EQ and is filed under Section 397(3)(b) of the Income-tax Act, 2025, read with Rule 219 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026. It covers Tax Collected at Source on specified transactions including scrap, liquor, forest produce, motor vehicles above prescribed value thresholds, foreign remittances under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme, overseas tour packages, and now explicitly, luxury goods such as watches, art, and premium bags under newly introduced payment codes.
Pro Tip — The TCS Due Date Has Changed: Under the old Act, Form 27EQ followed its own filing schedule, sometimes falling on the 15th of the month following quarter-end. Form 143 now follows the identical quarterly due-date pattern as the TDS returns — 31 July, 31 October, 31 January, and 31 May. Businesses still working off the old TCS calendar risk missing this realigned deadline entirely.
Certificate Forms: 130, 131 and 133
Certificate issuance is the deductee-facing half of the TDS forms for FY 2026-27 framework, and getting this sequence right matters just as much as the return filing itself.
Form 130 — Replacing Form 16
Form 130 is the annual salary TDS certificate, structured in three parts: Part A with deductor and deductee identification details, Part B with quarter-wise TDS reconciliation, and Part C containing either full salary computation (Annexure I) or pension and senior-citizen interest details (Annexure II). Employers must issue Form 130 by 15 June following the end of the Tax Year, and critically, it can only be generated through the TRACES portal after Form 138 has been filed and processed — a self-generated or offline version carries no legal validity.
Form 131 — Replacing Form 16A
Form 131 is issued quarterly to non-salary deductees within 15 days of the corresponding Form 140 or Form 144 return being filed and processed. Many vendors and professionals continue to require Form 131 as formal documentary proof of deduction, even though the underlying tax credit will independently appear in their own tax records.
Form 133 — Replacing Form 27D
Form 133 is the TCS certificate issued to the collectee after Form 143 has been filed, generally within 15 days of the return’s due date. Its content mirrors the old Form 27D structure closely.
Critical Timing Note for FY 2025-26: Employers must still issue the old Form 16 for salary paid during FY 2025-26 by 15 June 2026, exactly as before. Form 130 applies only to salary income earned during Tax Year 2026-27 onwards. Issuing a document titled “Form 16” for Tax Year 2026-27 salary is technically a non-compliant certificate, and employees who rely on it while filing their own returns risk mismatches against what TRACES actually has on record.
TRACES Payment Codes 1001 to 1092 Explained
The single biggest behavioural shift required by the TDS forms for FY 2026-27 is the move from section-number citations to numeric payment codes. Instead of writing “194C” or “194J” inside Form 140, deductors now select a 4-digit code from a defined range of 1001 to 1092, each corresponding to a specific row in the Section 393 table. The table below is verified directly against the official TDS & TCS Rate Chart for Tax Year 2026-27 (updated 21 May 2026).
| Code | Old Section | Nature of Payment | New Section (Table Ref.) | Rate | Threshold (₹) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1001–1003 | 192 / 192A | Salary (Govt./Non-Govt./Union Govt. employees) | 392 | Slab rate | — |
| 1004 | 192A | Accumulated balance due to an employee | 392(7) | 10% | — |
| 1005 | 194D | Commission or brokerage — insurance | 393(1) Sl. No. 1(i) | 2% (Individual) / 10% (Others) | 20,000 |
| 1006 | 194H | Commission or brokerage — others | 393(1) Sl. No. 1(ii) | 2% | 20,000 |
| 1008 | 194I(a) | Rent — plant & machinery, specified person | 393(1) Sl. No. 2(ii).D(a) | 2% | 50,000/month |
| 1009 | 194I(b) | Rent — other than machinery, specified person | 393(1) Sl. No. 2(ii).D(b) | 10% | 50,000/month |
| 1019 | 193 | Interest on securities | 393(1) Sl. No. 5(i) | 10% | 10,000 |
| 1020 | 194A | Interest other than securities — senior citizen deductee | 393(1) Sl. No. 5(ii).D(a) | 10% | 1,00,000 |
| 1021 | 194A | Interest other than securities — other than senior citizen | 393(1) Sl. No. 5(ii).D(b) | 10% | 50,000 |
| 1022 | 194A | Interest other than securities — general | 393(1) Sl. No. 5(iii) | 10% | 10,000 |
| 1023 | 194C | Contractor payments — Individual or HUF | 393(1) Sl. No. 6(i).D(a) | 1% | 30,000 single / 1,00,000 aggregate |
| 1024 | 194C | Contractor payments — Other than Individual/HUF | 393(1) Sl. No. 6(i).D(b) | 2% | 30,000 single / 1,00,000 aggregate |
| 1026 | 194J(a) | Fees for technical services / call centre / film royalty | 393(1) Sl. No. 6(iii).D(a) | 2% | 50,000 |
| 1027 | 194J(b) | Fees for professional services | 393(1) Sl. No. 6(iii).D(b) | 10% | 50,000 |
| 1029 | 194 | Dividends (including preference shares) | 393(1) Sl. No. 7 | 10% | 10,000 (Individual) |
| 1030 | 194DA | Life insurance policy sum (including bonus) | 393(1) Sl. No. 8(i) | 2% | 1 lakh |
| 1031 | 194Q | Purchase of goods | 393(1) Sl. No. 8(ii) | 0.1% | In excess of 50 lakh |
| 1033 | 194R | Business/professional benefit or perquisite | 393(1) Sl. No. 8(iv) | 10% | 20,000 |
| 1035 | 194O | E-commerce operator payment to participant | 393(1) Sl. No. 8(v) | 0.1% | 5 lakh (Individual/HUF) |
| 1037 | 194S | Transfer of virtual digital asset — other than Individual/HUF | 393(1) Sl. No. 8(vi) | 1% | 10,000 |
| 1058 | 194B | Winnings — lottery, crossword, card game, gambling/betting | 393(3) Sl. No. 1 | 30% | 10,000 per transaction |
| 1060 | 194BA | Winnings from online games | 393(3) Sl. No. 2 | 30% | — |
| 1062 | 194BB | Winnings from horse race | 393(3) Sl. No. 3 | 30% | 10,000 per transaction |
| 1067 | 194T | Salary/remuneration/commission/interest to a partner | 393(3) Sl. No. 7 | 10% | 20,000 |
This numbering shift is not cosmetic. It fundamentally changes how the TRACES system validates a return at the point of upload. Where the old system might accept a range of loosely formatted section references, the new payment code structure demands an exact match against the table defined in the Income-tax Rules, 2026.
Expert Insight: Update your accounting software — whether Tally, SAP, Zoho Books, or a dedicated TDS utility — to reflect these verified payment codes before your very first Tax Year 2026-27 filing. Manual overrides or workarounds using old section numbers will not simply generate a warning; they will make the entire return defective, requiring a correction statement that delays every deductee’s certificate issuance downstream. Note also that the code sequence is not perfectly continuous — for example, codes 1007, 1010, 1018, 1025, 1028, and several others in the 1030s–1050s range are either reserved, foreign-payment-specific, or apply to narrower sub-categories not covered in the summary table above.
The Transition Year: Which Form for Which Quarter
FY 2026-27 is genuinely a dual-track compliance year, and this is where most confusion around the TDS forms for FY 2026-27 tends to arise. The governing rule is simple in principle: the form used depends entirely on the date the payment or credit occurred, not the date the return happens to be filed.
| Period | Governing Act | Salary Form | Non-Salary Form | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q4 FY 2025-26 (Jan–Mar 2026) | Income-tax Act, 1961 | Form 24Q | Form 26Q | 31 May 2026 |
| Q1 Tax Year 2026-27 (Apr–Jun 2026) | Income-tax Act, 2025 | Form 138 | Form 140 | 31 July 2026 |
| Q2 Tax Year 2026-27 (Jul–Sep 2026) | Income-tax Act, 2025 | Form 138 | Form 140 | 31 October 2026 |
| Q3 Tax Year 2026-27 (Oct–Dec 2026) | Income-tax Act, 2025 | Form 138 | Form 140 | 31 January 2027 |
| Q4 Tax Year 2026-27 (Jan–Mar 2027) | Income-tax Act, 2025 | Form 138 | Form 140 | 31 May 2027 |
The Overlap Trap: Note that the Q4 FY 2025-26 return (old forms, due 31 May 2026) and the Q1 Tax Year 2026-27 return (new forms, due 31 July 2026) can both be sitting in preparation at the same time in your compliance calendar. A deductor filing the Q4 return in late May must resist the temptation to “helpfully” apply new payment codes to it — that return must remain entirely on old Act forms and old section references, since it relates to payments made before 1 April 2026.
Free TDS Late Filing Fee Calculator — Use It Right Now
Enter your quarterly TDS or TCS amount and the number of days your filing is delayed to instantly calculate the late fee payable under the new forms regime. This tool applies the Section 427 late fee formula that governs Forms 138, 140, 143, and 144.
Bookmark this page to use this free TDS late filing fee calculator every quarter.
Penalties Under the New TDS Forms Regime
The penalty architecture behind the TDS forms for FY 2026-27 is functionally identical to the old regime, but the section references have changed to reflect the new Act’s numbering.
| Default | Old Act Reference | New Act Reference | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Late filing of quarterly return | Section 234E | Section 427 | ₹200/day, capped at TDS amount |
| Non-filing beyond one year | Section 271H | Sections 461, 465 | ₹10,000 to ₹1,00,000 |
| Failure to deduct TDS | Section 201(1A) | Corresponding new-Act section | 1% per month, deductible-to-deduction-date |
| Failure to deposit deducted TDS | Section 201(1A) | Corresponding new-Act section | 1.5% per month, deduction-to-deposit-date |
Expert Insight — Interest Rounds Up to the Full Month: Interest under both the old and new frameworks is calculated per month or part of a month, not per day. If TDS of ₹1,00,000 is deducted on 1 May 2026 but deposited on 10 June 2026 against a due date of 7 June, two full months of interest apply — ₹1,00,000 × 1.5% × 2 = ₹3,000 — even though the actual delay past the due date was only three days.
Common Mistakes During the Transition
Mistake 1: Applying New Forms to Old-Period Payments
Some deductors, eager to move fully to the new system, mistakenly attempt to file the Q4 FY 2025-26 return using Form 138 or Form 140 simply because they are filing it after 1 April 2026. The governing rule is the date of payment or credit, not the date of filing — Q4 FY 2025-26 payments always use the old forms, regardless of when the return itself is submitted.
Mistake 2: Forgetting That TAN Requirements Are Unchanged
Tax Deduction and Collection Account Numbers continue entirely unchanged under the Income-tax Act, 2025. Some deductors have assumed, incorrectly, that a new TAN registration process accompanies the new forms — it does not, with the single narrow exception of NRI property purchases now using the buyer’s PAN instead.
Mistake 3: Issuing “Form 16” for Tax Year 2026-27 Salary
HR teams accustomed to a fifteen-year-old naming convention frequently continue labelling salary certificates as “Form 16” out of habit. For Tax Year 2026-27 income, this is Form 130, and the distinction matters when employees cross-check their certificate against what actually appears in their own tax records.
For a deeper walkthrough of the July 2026 filing deadlines specifically, see our detailed guide on TDS compliance in July 2026, which covers the Q1 filing cycle in full operational detail. You can also review how these new TDS credits will appear in your annual tax statement in our guide to AIS vs Form 26AS vs TIS for AY 2026-27.
Key Takeaways
- The TDS forms for FY 2026-27 are a full renumbering under the Income-tax Act, 2025 — Form 24Q becomes Form 138, Form 26Q becomes Form 140, Form 27Q becomes Form 144, and Form 27EQ becomes Form 143.
- Four separate property and rent forms — 26QB, 26QC, 26QD, and 26QE — are now consolidated into a single Form 141 with distinct internal schedules.
- Certificate forms have also changed: Form 16 becomes Form 130, Form 16A becomes Form 131, and Form 27D becomes Form 133.
- Old section numbers such as 194C and 194J are replaced by numeric TRACES payment codes ranging from 1001 to 1092 inside the new forms.
- The governing rule during the transition year is the date of payment or credit, not the date of filing — Q4 FY 2025-26 payments always use old forms, even if filed after 1 April 2026.
- Q1 Tax Year 2026-27 (April to June 2026) is the first quarter requiring the new forms, due by 31 July 2026.
- Late filing fee under the new regime remains ₹200 per day, capped at the total TDS or TCS amount, with an additional penalty of ₹10,000 to ₹1,00,000 for non-filing beyond one year.
- TAN numbers remain unchanged; only NRI property purchases now use the buyer’s PAN instead of a dedicated TAN.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the new TDS forms for FY 2026-27?
The new TDS forms for FY 2026-27 are Form 138 for salary TDS, Form 140 for domestic non-salary TDS, Form 144 for non-resident TDS, Form 143 for TCS, and Form 141 as a consolidated challan-cum-statement for property, rent, and virtual digital asset transactions.
Which TDS forms apply for Q4 of FY 2025-26?
Q4 of FY 2025-26 (January to March 2026) continues to use the old forms — Form 24Q for salary and Form 26Q for non-salary payments — under the Income-tax Act, 1961, even though the return itself may be filed as late as May 2026.
What replaces Form 16 and Form 16A for FY 2026-27?
Form 16 is replaced by Form 130 and Form 16A is replaced by Form 131, both applicable from Tax Year 2026-27 onwards. These can only be generated through the TRACES portal after the corresponding quarterly return is filed and processed.
What are TRACES payment codes 1001 to 1092?
These are 4-digit numeric codes that replace old section-number references such as 194C or 194J inside the new TDS forms. Each code corresponds to a specific transaction type defined in the Section 393 table under the Income-tax Act, 2025.
What is the due date for filing Form 138 and Form 140 for Q1 of Tax Year 2026-27?
The Q1 return covering April to June 2026 must be filed by 31 July 2026. Subsequent quarters follow 31 October 2026, 31 January 2027, and 31 May 2027 respectively.
What happens if I use an old TDS form for a Tax Year 2026-27 transaction?
The return will trigger system-level validation errors on TRACES and be treated as defective, requiring a correction statement and delaying certificate issuance to your deductees.
What is the penalty for late filing of the new TDS forms?
The late filing fee under Section 427 is ₹200 per day, capped at the total TDS or TCS amount for that quarter, with a separate penalty of ₹10,000 to ₹1,00,000 if the return remains unfiled beyond one year.
Do TAN numbers change under the new TDS forms?
No, TAN numbers remain unchanged. The one exception is the purchase of immovable property from a non-resident seller, where the buyer’s PAN is now used instead of a separately obtained TAN.
The TDS forms for FY 2026-27 mark one of the most significant procedural shifts in Indian tax compliance in recent memory, yet the underlying obligation to deduct, deposit, and report tax at source has not fundamentally changed. Success this year depends entirely on discipline during the transition: knowing precisely which form applies to which quarter, updating your systems to the new payment codes before your first filing, and briefing your HR and accounts teams so that certificates like Form 130 and Form 131 are issued correctly from day one. Master the mapping in this guide, and the TDS forms for FY 2026-27 become a straightforward compliance exercise rather than a source of validation errors and correction statements.
