March 31, 2026 Deadline for Key Income Tax & GST Compliance
March 31, 2026 is the deadline for many procedures and forms in both income tax and goods and services tax (GST). Some of the procedures and forms have to be filed by March 31, 2026 else you lose the opportunity to get its benefits later on during the year and may even have to incur late fees, penalties and additional tax.
Chartered Accountant Suresh Surana explains the list of some of procedures and forms to be filed or done by March 31, 2026 for Income Tax purposes:
Application for Lower / Nil TDS Certificate (Form 13): It is pertinent to note that while not a statutory March-end deadline, applying before the commencement of the new financial year is a prudent planning step to enable deductors to apply the appropriate withholding rate from April onwards.
File ITR-U if applicable: File ITR-U if you have missed to report any income or missed filing any ITR, or applied the wrong rate of tax. Though you need to pay additional tax, penalty, etc for filing ITR-U, but not filing it means you are exposing yourself to scrutiny by the tax department and there you could be imposed with a bigger penalty.
File TDS return for Q3 of 2025: The deadline to file TDS return for Q3 of 2025 is extended to March 31, 2026.
Capital gains planning and loss set-off optimisation : Taxpayers should evaluate potential sale or retention of capital assets, utilisation of carried-forward losses, and eligibility for exemption provisions within prescribed timelines.
Depreciation planning and put-to-use condition : Capital assets intended to be depreciated in the current year must be installed and put to use before 31 March to claim depreciation benefits (including additional depreciation, where applicable).
Business Income and Expense Cut-off Review : Proper recognition of income and allowability of expenses should be assessed to ensure accurate computation of taxable profits.
Withholding Tax Exposure Review : A comprehensive review of TDS applicability on payments made during the year should be undertaken to identify potential short-deduction or non-deduction risks.
