What is Form 24Q?
Filing Form 24Q is a statutory requirement for any entity or organisation to deduct tax (TDS) on payments of salaries (or related to salary) to its employees. The form is submitted quarterly and provides essential details to the Income Tax Department that would ensure proper tax credit to employees.
The return includes the details of the TDS deducted along with the challan details for the amount deposit. Form 24Q requires quarterly reporting of employee-level TDS data along with corresponding challan details.
It is the responsibility of the employer to compute the total tax liability of each employee and ensure that tax is deducted (TDS) in full to cover this tax liability. As an exception to other TDS forms, in Form 24Q (4th Quarter), the employer needs to provide the tax computation details of each employee and justify it with the total tax deducted during the year.
What are the details to be filled in Form 24Q?
Form 24Q comprises two main parts that must be submitted by the deductor as per the quarterly TDS filing requirements:
Annexure I – Filed in All Four Quarters
Annexure I contains quarterly data related to salary payments and TDS deductions. It includes the following information:
- Deductor details: TAN, PAN, and address
- Challan details: BSR Code, Challan Serial Number, Date of Deposit, and TDS amount deposited
- Employee-wise payment details:
- Name and PAN of each employee
- Date of salary payment
- Amount paid
- Amount of tax deducted
- Reference number for lower or nil deduction, if applicable
- Reason for non-deduction or reduced deduction (if applicable)
This annexure is required to be filed in each quarter of the financial year.
Annexure II – Applicable only in the Fourth Quarter
Annexure II provides the tax computation for each employee. It is filed only with the Q4 return and includes the following:
- Selection of New/Old Regime
- Gross salary paid during the financial year
- Exemptions claimed under Section 10
- Deductions claimed under Chapter VI-A
- Taxable income after deductions
- Total tax liability
- TDS amount
Annexure II is used by the Income Tax Department to verify the final salary-wise tax deduction summary for each employee and generate Form 16.
Note: There is also an Annexure III – this is to be used only specified entities (mostly banks) to report pension earnings. The information is similar to Annexure II.
What are the filing due dates for Form 24Q?
| Quarter |
Due Date |
| April – June (Q1) |
31st July |
| July – September (Q2) |
31st October |
| October – December (Q3) |
31st January |
| January – March (Q4) |
31st May |
What is the TDS rate when PAN Is not available?
If the valid PAN is not furnished or is incorrect, tax deduction (TDS) is at a higher rate – typically 20% or as per the provisions of the Income Tax Act.
This rule is enforced under Section 206AA and applies even if the applicable TDS rate is lower.
How is Interest calculated for late Deduction or Payment of TDS?
Interest for Non-Compliance:
- Non-Deduction of TDS: 1% per month from the date tax was deductible to the date of actual deduction
- Deducted but Not Deposited: 1.5% per month from the date of deduction to the date of actual payment
Interest is calculated based on the calendar month. Even a single-day delay in the calendar month is treated as a full month.
Details on how these interest is calculated
What are the Penalties for late filing of Form 24Q?
Late Filing Fee – Section 234E
A fee of Rs. 200 per day is applicable until the return is filed, capped at the told amount of TDS deducted within the Return.
Fees for Late Filing of TDS Returns
Penalty – Section 271H
Penalty between Rs. 10,000 and Rs. 1,00,000 may be levied for incorrect or delayed filing.
Fees for Late Filing of TDS Returns
Waiver of Penalty under 271H
No penalty if:
- TDS is deposited in full
- Late fee and interest are paid
- Return is filed within 1 year of due date
Prosecution for Non-Deposit of TDS
If deducted TDS is not deposited, the offence is punishable with rigorous imprisonment from 3 months to 7 years, along with a fine.
Frequently Asked Questions – Form 24Q
On which date, I should deduct the tax (TDS), for our employees?
As per the rules, the deduction should be done on the date the payment is made or the date on which credit is provided to employees, whichever is earlier.
For the tax deducted, how do I deposit this amount?
Typically, the deposit is made online through banking channels. The process of making the payment has to be initiated from the Income Tax website which he will transfer you to the selected bank for completing the payment. Once successfully done, the bank provides you the payment receipt 'Challan' which contains important information that will be required for filing the Returns.
What is the due date for making the TDS deposit?
For all deductions during the calendar month, the total amount should be deposited within the 7th of the following month. Say, for deductions in June, it should be deposited by 7th July. Only exception is for deductions in March (last month the financial year), wherein this deposit date is 30th April.
Before filing, can I check to be sure that the PANs are all correct?
Yes. All PANs within a TDS Return can be verified online through the Income Tax websites. Alternatively, the TDSMAN suite of products has a facility to validate all PANs seamlessly by integrating to these websites.
In Form 24Q as there is no specified rate, how to ensure that correct deductions have been made?
You need to determine the income tax of each employee based on projected the respective income and accordingly apply TDS pro-rata on a monthly basis. In case of any change in the projected value, the TDS also needs to be adjusted and synchronized with this new value. After completion of the year, determine the actual tax amount and make the deduction accordingly in March (last month of the financial year) so that the total TDS matches or exceeds the computed tax of each employee.
What is the process of filing the TDS Return?
TDS Returns can be filed either online at the Income Tax website or submitted offline to any one of the authorized TIN facilitation centres (TIN-FC) located across India. After successful submission in either mode, you will receive an acknowledgement.
What is the due date to file Form 24Q?
You will need to file Form 24Q on completion of every quarter. The last date of filing within the last date of the month following the quarter end. Say, for quarter April to June, the last date of filing is 31st July. However, for the last quarter (January to March), the last date of such filing is 31st May.
For some reason I was not able to file my Form 24Q within the due date, can I file it after that?
Yes, in case you could file on time, you must file at the later date. For such delayed filing there is a penalty of Rs. 200/- per day of delay. However, total amount of the penalty cannot exceed the TDS amount within the Return.
After filing the TDS Return, I realized there was some error. How can I rectify this?
You can rectify the filed Form 24Q either by filing a Correction Return or directly make corrections on-line on the Income Tax website. However, making corrections has some defined limitations which needs to be strictly followed. This would take care of additions, modifications, etc. as desired.
Is there any time limit for filing Correction Returns?
Within the defined limitations, you can file Correction Returns as many times. No restriction has been specified in this regard. However, from 1st April '25, now corrections can only be done for Returns filed for the last six financial years only.
What is Annexure II & Annexure III in for 24Q?
Both Annexures II & III are available only in Quarter 4. Annexure II is to report the tax computation of each employee reconciling with the tax deducted (TDS) during the year. Annexure III is similar to II, which also is a tax computation declaration primarily for pensioners – this is applicable typically for a few banking entities who are authorized to maintain and manage pensioner's a/c.
What is New Regime & Old Regime?
The Income Tax Dept., introduced a new parallel method of tax computation which is called the 'New Regime' whereas the existing one is the 'Old Regime'. Depending on the selection of regime, the tax computation of the employee will be different.
How to calculated the correct TDS each month for the employee?
Primarily you need to understand that this calculation can only be done on projections and assumptions. Typically, you need to have projected tax computation for each employee at the year beginning. Every month 1/12th of this projected amount would be the TDS amount. During the course of the year the projected tax may change – accordingly TDS will change and, you will have to recalculate the TDS so that it aligns with the recomputed tax amount. Once the year is complete, determine the actual tax amount and make sure in the last month (March), appropriate deductions (if any) are made.
Why percentage rate of TDS is not showing up in Form 24Q?
For TDS of Salary, the deduction is different for each employee which is computed based on the projected tax for year which has a different method of calculation. Unlike other TDS Forms (26Q or 27Q), the 'percentage rate' does not apply.
An employee joins in the middle of the year; does it have any impact in Form 24Q?
If it is the first job of the employee, there is no impact. However, if the person has joined carrying forward the salary income from the previous employer, you need to factor this income of the employee in computing the projected tax for the year. Also important to is to factor the tax already deducted (TDS) by the previous employer.
Some employees have tax deductions (TDS) from other income sources – as they are declaring their income, how can I also include this TDS value enabling correct deductions from our end proper reporting in Form 24Q?
In Form 24Q – Annexure II (Quarter 4), you need to report the 'Income from Other Sources' and also the 'TDS from Other Sources' for each employee (if, applicable). The tax computation and the tax to be deducted by you (employer) is to be determined by factoring these.
There are many employees who do not fall in the taxation bracket, do I have any obligation to report such cases in Form 24Q?
Since there has been no deduction for many of your employees, there is no obligation to report in any of the four quarters in Annexure I. However, you may report the monthly salary with zero TDS value in Annexure I that is filed each quarter. It needs to be further understood, that the Income Tax Dept. issues Form 16 only for those employee whose data is provided in Annexure II (Quarter 4) by the employer. It is highly suggested that all your employees should be reported in Annexure II, even if the total TDS is zero.
Some of the Similar Forms:
