Priyanshi Garg
October is one of the busiest compliance months on the Indian calendar overlapping GST monthly/quarterly filings, the tail end of the (now-extended) tax audit season, and the post-AGM company law filing window. Here's a consolidated calendar to plan the month around.
Income Tax Due Dates
| Date | Compliance | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 7 October | TDS/TCS Payment | Deposit of tax deducted/collected at source for September 2026 |
| 15 October | TCS Statement (Form 27EQ) | Quarterly TCS return for Q2 (July–September 2026) |
| 21 October | Tax Audit Report (Form 3CA/3CB with 3CD) | Extended deadline for AY 2026-27 (originally 30 September; extended via CBDT press release dated 28 September 2026) |
| 30 October | TDS Challan-cum-statement | Form 26QB/26QC/26QD/26QE for September 2026 transactions |
| 31 October | TDS Statement (Form 24Q/26Q/27Q) | Quarterly TDS return for Q2 (July–September 2026) |
Note: Because the tax audit report deadline itself was pushed to 21 October this year, firms should plan audit sign-off and documentation closure within the first three weeks of the month, rather than assuming the usual month-end crunch, the connected ITR filing deadline for audit cases has also moved to 21 November 2026.
GST Due Dates
| Date | Form | Applicability |
|---|---|---|
| 10 October | GSTR-7 | TDS deducted under GST, for September 2026 |
| 10 October | GSTR-8 | TCS collected by e-commerce operators, for September 2026 |
| 11 October | GSTR-1 | Monthly outward supply return for September 2026 (regular taxpayers) |
| 13 October | IFF | Optional Invoice Furnishing Facility for QRMP taxpayers, September 2026 |
| 13 October | GSTR-6 | Input Service Distributor return, September 2026 |
| 13 October | GSTR-5 | Non-resident taxable persons, September 2026 |
| 18 October | CMP-08 | Composition taxpayers - quarterly statement-cum-challan, Q2 (July–Sept 2026) |
| 20 October | GSTR-5A | OIDAR service providers, September 2026 |
| 20 October | GSTR-3B | Monthly summary return for September 2026 (regular/monthly filers) |
| 22/24 October | GSTR-3B (QRMP) | Quarterly filers, Q2 (July–Sept 2026) staggered by state group |
| 25 October | ITC-04 | Half-yearly return for goods sent/received for job work (April–September 2026 period) |
Company Law / ROC Due Dates
| Date | Form | Applicability |
|---|---|---|
| ~15 October | ADT-1 | Auditor appointment/ratification, within 15 days of AGM (for companies holding AGM by 30 September) |
| 30 October | AOC-4 / AOC-4 XBRL | Filing of financial statements, within 30 days of AGM |
| 30 October | LLP Form 8 | Statement of Account & Solvency mandatory annual filing for every LLP, regardless of turnover or activity |
Other Statutory Due Dates
| Date | Compliance | Applicability |
|---|---|---|
| 15 October | PF Payment | Provident Fund contribution for September 2026 |
| 15 October | ESI Payment | ESI contribution for September 2026 |
| Varies by state | Professional Tax | State-specific due dates for September 2026 liability |
Practical Planning Notes for the Month
- Sequence the tax audit crunch first - with the 21 October deadline, prioritise finalising audit reports in the first three weeks before GST month-end filings (20–25 October) compete for the same team bandwidth.
- Don't lose track of LLP Form 8 - it's easy to overlook alongside the more visible AOC-4/company deadlines, but it carries the same uncapped ₹100/day late-filing penalty structure as other MCA forms, and applies even to LLPs with zero activity during the year.
- Confirm each client's AGM date individually before relying on the "30 September AGM → 30 October AOC-4" assumption above; companies that obtained a ROC extension for their AGM will have correspondingly later AOC-4/ADT-1 deadlines.
- Cross-check QRMP vs monthly GST filers separately in your client list - mixing up the GSTR-3B due dates (20th for monthly, 22nd/24th staggered for QRMP) is one of the most common calendar errors during this period.
- Track CBDT's formal notification giving legal effect to the tax audit extension (the 28 September press release said a separate order would follow) before finalising any penalty or interest computation tied to the original 30 September date.
Takeaway
October compresses three separate compliance tracks income tax audit season, routine monthly/quarterly GST filings, and the post-AGM company law window into a single month. A client-wise calendar broken out by these three tracks (rather than one combined list) tends to reduce missed deadlines significantly, particularly in a year where the tax audit date itself shifted just two days before the original due date.
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