Payroll in India is not one deadline. It is five or six recurring obligations that fall within days of each other, every month, plus quarterly and annual layers on top. Most failures are not technical — they are a date nobody owned.
The core monthly deadlines cluster between the 7th and the 15th: TDS deposit by the 7th, and PF, ESIC and professional tax by the 15th. TDS returns are quarterly, Form 16 is annual. Which of these apply to you depends on your registrations and headcount, not on your size.
Want a calendar built for your own registrations? WhatsApp us your headcount and state and we will map what applies.
Quick Summary — The Monthly Cycle
| By when | What | Applies when |
| 7th | TDS deposit for the previous month | You deduct TDS |
| 15th | PF contribution and ECR filing | 20+ employees |
| 15th | ESIC contribution | 10+ employees |
| 15th | Professional tax (Maharashtra PTRC) | You have salaried employees |
| Quarterly | TDS return | You deduct TDS |
| Annual | Form 16 to employees | You deduct salary TDS |
💡 TaxKitab Tip Build the calendar around your triggers, not around the dates. Most businesses that miss an obligation never had it on a list — nobody told them that the tenth employee started ESIC, or that one consultant payment started TDS. Keep a short note of three things instead: registrations held, entity type, headcount. Review it whenever one of those changes, and the deadlines look after themselves. — From our TDS & TCS Book 6. Available at taxkitab.com/books (Rs 249)
The 7th: TDS Deposit
Tax deducted during a month is deposited by the 7th of the following month. That covers salary TDS under Section 192 and every other deduction you made — rent, professional fees, contractor payments.
March is the exception, where the deposit date runs later for most deductions.
You cannot deposit without a TAN, and salary TDS applies from the first payslip on which the employee’s income is taxable. There is no headcount threshold and no grace month.
The 15th: PF, ESIC and Professional Tax
Three obligations land on the same date, which is convenient and also why they are missed together.
Provident fund. Contribution and ECR filing by the 15th for the previous wage month. EPF applies once the establishment has 20 or more employees. The wage ceiling rose to Rs 25,000 on 17 September 2026, so contributions calculated on the old ceiling will now mismatch.
ESIC. Contribution by the 15th. Applies at 10 or more employees, covering those with gross wages up to Rs 21,000 — unchanged by the EPF revision.
Professional tax. A state levy, so the position depends on where your employees work. In Maharashtra, PTRC payment and return run to the 15th of the following month for monthly filers, with an annual return by 15 March where the previous year’s liability qualifies you for annual filing. PTEC is a separate annual payment by 15 June.
Quarterly: TDS Returns
The deposit is monthly; the return is quarterly, covering the deductions made in that quarter. Salary TDS is reported in its own form, separate from other deductions.
Certificates follow the return. Employees receive Form 16 annually, and other deductees receive Form 16A quarterly.
The common failure here is depositing correctly and not filing the return, which is a separate obligation with its own consequences.
Annual: Form 16 and Year-End
Form 16 goes to employees after the year closes, drawn from the quarterly returns already filed. If the returns were wrong, the certificates will be too.
Year-end also means collecting investment declarations and proofs for the following year, and reconciling the TDS deducted across twelve months against what was deposited and reported.
What Triggers Each Obligation
Worth stating plainly, because this is where calendars go wrong.
TDS starts when you make a payment that requires deduction — not at a headcount. Professional tax starts with your first salaried employee, where the state levies it. ESIC starts at ten employees. EPF starts at twenty. Shop Act obligations start with the establishment, at a different threshold again.
Crossing a threshold does not produce a notification. The obligation begins from the month you cross it, backdated, whether or not anyone registered.
Building Yours
Write down your registrations, your state and your headcount. Everything follows from those three.
Put each recurring date in a shared calendar with a reminder several days before, name one person responsible for each, and confirm each month that the deposit was actually made — not that payroll was processed. Those are two different events, and only one of them is visible on a payslip.
Frequently Asked Questions
We have five employees. What applies? Salary TDS from the first payslip where income is taxable, professional tax where your state levies it, and a TAN to deposit TDS. PF and ESIC do not apply at that headcount.
Does PF apply at ten employees? No. ESIC applies at ten or more, PF at twenty or more. A twelve-person team triggers ESIC only.
Did the EPF change affect ESIC? No. The EPF wage ceiling rose to Rs 25,000 on 17 September 2026. The ESIC ceiling remains at the notified Rs 21,000.
What happens if we miss the 15th? Interest runs from the due date, and continued default can attract damages. The amount is usually smaller than the administrative cost of unwinding it.
Is professional tax the same in every state? No. It is a state levy with different slabs and dates, and some states do not charge it at all.
Our payroll vendor handles this. Do we still need a calendar? Yes. A vendor processes what it is given. Registration status, threshold crossings and confirmation that deposits were made all sit outside most payroll scopes.
References
- Income-tax Act, 1961 — Section 192, TDS deposit and quarterly return timelines
- Employees Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952
- Employees State Insurance Act, 1948
- Maharashtra State Tax on Professions, Trades, Callings and Employments Act, 1975
- Notification S.O. 5109(E) dated 17 September 2026 — EPF wage ceiling
⚠️ Due dates, thresholds and state professional tax rules change by notification. Confirm your own calendar against the official portals or with your advisor.
Related Reading: EPF Wage Ceiling Is Now Rs 25,000: What Changes in Your Payroll · Registering as an Employer in Maharashtra: The Full Sequence · Your First Payroll Run in India: What Usually Goes Wrong
Call or WhatsApp: +91 7448200422 Email: info@taxkitab.com We run the full payroll calendar under Payroll & HR Compliance. Our Academy teaches it end-to-end for HR and payroll teams.
