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The Paper Plane
Compliance Calendar

Every date that carries a penalty

Monthly filings recur on the same days all year. Annual filings land once and are easy to miss. Both are here, with the statute and the cost of being late.

The statutory year

Recurs every monthAnnual filingThis month

September — 5 deadlines

  1. 7SepMonthly
    Income TaxEvery deductor and collector

    TDS / TCS deposit

    Deposit of tax deducted and collected at source for the preceding calendar month.

    Income Tax Act, 1961 — s.200Interest at 1.5% per month, part months counted in full.
  2. 11SepMonthly
    GSTMonthly filers

    GSTR-1 — outward supplies

    Invoice-level outward supply return: B2B, exports, credit and debit notes, and B2C summary.

    CGST Act, 2017 — s.37Late fee ₹50 per day (₹20 for nil returns), subject to cap.
  3. 15SepMonthly
    PayrollEmployers above threshold headcount

    Provident fund & ESI remittance

    Payment of employee and employer EPF contributions and ESI dues through the unified portal.

    EPF & MP Act, 1952 · ESI Act, 1948Employee contributions paid late are permanently disallowed as expenditure under s.36(1)(va).
  4. 20SepMonthly
    GSTMonthly filers

    GSTR-3B — summary return & payment

    Self-assessed summary return and payment of net cash liability after input tax credit set-off.

    CGST Act, 2017 — s.39Interest at 18% per annum on delayed tax, plus late fee.
  5. 30Sep
    AuditEntities crossing the audit threshold

    Tax audit report — Form 3CA/3CB-3CD

    Signed and uploaded by a practising chartered accountant — not work this practice carries out. Listed because it is your deadline, and because the books have to be closed well before it.

    Income Tax Act, 1961 — s.44ABPenalty under s.271B: 0.5% of turnover, capped at ₹1,50,000.
Add every date to your calendar

Downloads an .ics file with all 10 statutory dates and reminders set three days ahead.

Monthly reminder

The month ahead, in your inbox

On the first working day of each month we send one email listing exactly what is due, when, and what it costs to miss. Open to everyone — you do not need to be a client.

  • Sent once a month — never a drip sequence
  • Segmented so you only get dates that apply to you
  • Extensions and notifications flagged when they are announced
  • One-click unsubscribe in every email
So we send you the right dates

One email a month, at the start of the month, listing what is due and when. No sales sequences. Unsubscribe from any email in one click — withdrawing consent is as easy as giving it, which is what the DPDP Act asks for. Subscribing stores your email address, and your name if you gave one, for nothing but sending that email. See the privacy notice.

Statutory clocks

How long each process actually takes

Deadlines are only half the picture. These are the windows the department works to — and the ones you are held to.

Section 143(1)

Processing & refund order

30 days

Automated processing by the Centralised Processing Centre. Adjustments or refunds follow verification.

Section 142(1)

Preliminary inquiry reply

15 days

The window the assessing officer grants to furnish accounts, documents or written explanation.

Section 143(2)

Full scrutiny notice

Within 3 months of FY end

Served to verify the return. Defence submissions follow the hearing schedule that is issued with it.

Section 250

CIT(A) first appeal

File within 30 days

Form 35 must be filed within 30 days of receiving an adverse assessment or penalty order.

Section 54 (GST)

Export / unutilised ITC refund

60 days

Provisional refund of 90% is released within 7 days of acknowledgement; the final order follows within 60 days.

MCA SPICe+

Private Limited / LLP setup

Set by MCA processing

Name reservation, digital signatures, constitutional drafting and ten registrations in one submission. The pace depends on MCA queues and whether names clear first time — neither of which any adviser controls.

Dates shown reflect the standard statutory position. The CBDT, GSTN and MCA extend deadlines from time to time by notification; subscribers are told when that happens. Confirm your own position with us before relying on any date here.