An India payroll compliance calendar is the monthly, quarterly, and annual schedule of statutory filings and remittances an employer must complete — covering PF, ESI, TDS, Professional Tax, and labour returns.
A compliance calendar is the structured schedule of every statutory payroll and HR filing an Indian employer must complete across the financial year. It consolidates deadlines across four central tax and labour regulators — the Income Tax Department, EPFO, ESIC, and the Ministry of Labour & Employment — plus state-level authorities for Professional Tax, Labour Welfare Fund, and Shops & Establishments registrations. For foreign companies running payroll in India, the compliance calendar is the single most important operational artefact. India payroll is unforgiving on deadlines: miss a PF remittance by one day and interest accrues at 12% per annum, plus damages that can reach 100% of arrears. Miss a TDS filing and it is ₹200 per day with no cap. See the India payroll compliance checklist for the full month-by-month playbook.
The calendar breaks into four cadences: monthly remittances, quarterly returns, half-yearly filings, and annual statements. Every payroll-adjacent obligation falls into one of these buckets, and each has a firm statutory deadline with no grace period.
Before running payroll, the employer must already hold registrations under PF (EPFO), ESI (ESIC), Professional Tax (state authority), Shops & Establishments (state labour department), TAN (Income Tax Department), and Labour Welfare Fund (applicable states). Payroll cannot legally run without these registrations in place.
The Indian financial year runs April 1 to March 31. The calendar is anchored to this year. Most deadlines reference the “following month” or “following quarter”, meaning March payroll activity drives April and May filings, and the Q4 window (January–March) produces the most intensive year-end workload.
| Obligation | Due Date | Form | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| TDS on salary remittance | 7th of following month | Challan 281 | Income Tax Department |
| PF contribution remittance | 15th of following month | ECR (Electronic Challan cum Return) | EPFO |
| ESI contribution remittance | 15th of following month | Online challan | ESIC |
| Professional Tax remittance | 15th–21st (state-specific) | State form | State PT authority |
| Labour Welfare Fund | Half-yearly or annual (state-specific) | State form | State LWF board |
Five recurring deadlines define every month of India payroll. The 7th for TDS is the tightest — the calendar month closes on the 30th or 31st, and the tax must be deposited seven days later. Most payroll providers target deposit by the 5th to maintain a two-day buffer.
Quarterly TDS Returns (Form 24Q):
| Quarter | Period | Due Date |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 | April–June | July 31 |
| Q2 | July–September | October 31 |
| Q3 | October–December | January 31 |
| Q4 | January–March | May 31 |
Half-Yearly ESI Returns:
| Period | Due Date |
|---|---|
| April–September | November 12 |
| October–March | May 12 |
Annual Filings:
| Obligation | Due Date | Form/Return |
|---|---|---|
| Form 16 to all employees | June 15 | Form 16 Part A + B |
| PF Annual Return | April 30 | Form 3A (revised), Form 6A |
| Bonus payment (Payment of Bonus Act) | Within 8 months of accounting year end | Bonus register |
| Tax Audit (if turnover triggers Section 44AB) | September 30 | Form 3CA/3CB |
| Corporate Income Tax Return (audit cases) | October 31 | ITR-6 |
| Investment proof collection from employees | January–February | Employee declarations |
India’s compliance regime is deliberately punitive to deter casual non-compliance.
| Violation | Penalty |
|---|---|
| PF late remittance | 12% per annum interest + 5%–100% damages depending on delay |
| PF default over 6 months | Damages up to 25% of arrears, sometimes 100% |
| ESI late payment | Simple interest at 12% per annum |
| TDS late deduction | 1% per month interest |
| TDS late deposit (after deduction) | 1.5% per month interest |
| Form 24Q late filing | ₹200 per day, no upper limit |
| Form 16 late issuance | ₹100 per day per employee |
| Professional Tax late filing (Maharashtra example) | 10% per month of amount due |
Compounding is the real risk. A missed PF deposit for 10 employees earning ₹50,000 basic each — roughly ₹60,000 in employer contribution — attracts interest plus damages that can exceed the original contribution within a year.
Foreign companies underestimate India payroll compliance because deadline volume, multi-regulator structure, and state-by-state variation have no analogue in most Western markets. The most common failure modes:
Omnivoo maintains the full compliance calendar as the operating backbone of its India EOR service. PF, ESI, and TDS remittances are processed against a 2–3 day internal buffer ahead of statutory deadlines. Quarterly Form 24Q filings auto-generate from monthly payroll data and submit before the last week of the month. Form 16 issues automatically once TRACES releases Part A after Q4 filing. Professional Tax and Labour Welfare Fund are tracked per state of employment, so remote-distributed teams do not accumulate gaps. Clients see a single real-time dashboard showing every upcoming deadline, payment confirmation receipt, and filing acknowledgement, with audit-ready documentation retained for the statutorily required 5–8 years.
ESI is a mandatory social security and health insurance scheme for Indian employees earning up to ₹21,000 per month, funded by employer and employee contributions.
Professional tax is a state-level employment tax in India deducted from employee salaries, with rates varying by state up to a constitutional maximum of ₹2,500 per year.
PF is a mandatory retirement savings scheme in India where both employer and employee contribute 12% of basic salary plus dearness allowance each month.
TDS is the income tax an employer withholds from an employee's salary each month and deposits with the government on their behalf.
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