Form 24Q

Form 24Q is the statutory quarterly return through which Indian employers report Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) on salary payments made to employees. Filed with the Income Tax Department under Section 192 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, Form 24Q captures challan-level deposit information, deductee-level salary breakups, and the full annual salary computation for each employee. It is the upstream data source for Form 16 — the salary TDS certificate every employee receives — and a non-negotiable compliance obligation for any organisation running payroll in India.

When Form 24Q Is Filed

Form 24Q is filed four times per financial year, once for each quarter, with strict due dates set by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT):

Quarter	Period Covered	Due Date
Q1	April — June	31 July
Q2	July — September	31 October
Q3	October — December	31 January
Q4	January — March	31 May

The Q4 return is the most important of the four because it contains Annexure II, the annual employee-wise salary detail. Annexure II is the only quarter where the employer reports each employee’s full-year gross salary, exemptions, deductions, chosen tax regime (old or new), and total tax liability. The first three quarters only require challan and deductee-level transaction reporting via Annexure I.

Returns are filed electronically on the TIN-NSDL portal (Protean eGov, formerly NSDL) using a Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) or via Electronic Verification Code (EVC). The file is generated through the Return Preparation Utility (RPU) provided free by Protean and validated using the File Validation Utility (FVU) before upload.

Form Structure

Form 24Q consists of two annexures, each serving a distinct purpose:

Annexure I — Required every quarter. Captures:

• Challan-level details: BSR code, challan serial number, deposit date, amount paid
• Deductee-level details: PAN, name, section code (192), date of payment, amount paid, tax deducted, tax deposited, TDS rate, reasons for lower/non-deduction (if any)

Annexure II — Required only in Q4. Captures the full annual reconciliation for each employee:

• Gross salary breakup (basic, allowances, perquisites)
• Exemptions under Section 10 (HRA, LTA, etc.)
• Deductions under Chapter VI-A (80C, 80D, 80CCD, etc.)
• Tax regime selected (old or new)
• Standard deduction, professional tax
• Net tax liability and tax deducted

The accuracy of Annexure II directly determines the accuracy of every Form 16 generated for the year — there is no separate input.

Common Errors and Penalties

The most common errors that lead to TRACES defaults are:

• PAN errors: Invalid, missing, or unmatched PANs trigger short-deduction notices because TDS on a missing PAN is required at 20% (Section 206AA)
• Challan mismatches: BSR code, serial number, or amount entered differently from what the bank reported
• Section code errors: Using wrong section codes for non-salary payments included by mistake
• Late filing: A late fee of ₹200 per day under Section 234E continues to accrue until the return is filed, capped at the TDS amount
• Inaccurate filing: Penalty of ₹10,000 to ₹1,00,000 under Section 271H for furnishing incorrect information or non-filing beyond one year

After filing, the deductor should download the Justification Report and Conso File from TRACES to identify and correct any defaults via a revised return.

How Form 24Q Connects to Form 16

Form 16 Part A — the section showing tax deducted and deposited — is generated automatically by the TRACES portal only after the corresponding Form 24Q is filed. Employers cannot self-generate or hand-write Part A. Part B (salary breakup) is prepared by the employer but must be consistent with Annexure II of the Q4 return.

This linkage means:

• Filing Q4 24Q late delays Form 16 issuance (statutory deadline: 15 June)
• Errors in Annexure II propagate into every Form 16 and into employee Form 26AS
• Revised 24Q returns are needed whenever an employee’s salary is corrected after year-end

How Omnivoo Handles Form 24Q

Omnivoo prepares and files Form 24Q returns for all four quarters on behalf of every employer using the platform. The payroll engine continuously builds the deductee and challan data through the year, validates PANs against the Income Tax Department’s database, and produces a pre-validated FVU file before each due date. Annexure II is reconciled against monthly TDS computations so that Q4 filing is a check, not a rebuild — and Form 16 Part A is downloaded from TRACES and stitched with Part B for issuance to employees by 15 June automatically.