TDS Return File Generator (Form 140, 26Q, 24Q, 27Q)

About the TDS Return File Generator (Form 140, 26Q, 24Q, 27Q)

Every quarter a deductor files a statement of the tax deducted (or collected) at source as a caret-delimited text file in the layout Protean publishes; its File Validation Utility (FVU) checks it and makes the .fvu file that is uploaded. Protean’s own Return Preparation Utility needs Java on a desktop and data typed or pasted into its grid. This generator works in the browser: load your challans and deductee rows from the MySmartCoPilot Excel template, any spreadsheet or CSV with headings, or an existing statement file; fix what the checks find; and, once the statement is unlocked, download the .txt for the FVU.

It writes Form No. 140 (TDS on payments to residents other than salary, was 26Q), 138 (salary, first three quarters), 144 (non-residents) and 143 (TCS) for Tax Year 2026-27 under the Income-tax Act, 2025, and Forms 26Q, 24Q (first three quarters), 27Q and 27EQ for FY 2025-26 and earlier. Before the file is written, every rule of the published format is checked, rates are compared with the standard rate of each section from the live TDS calculator, and interest for late deduction or deposit and the late-filing fee are worked out. You also get a summary PDF, a section-wise summary in the columns of the tax audit report’s TDS clause (clause 50(a) of Form No. 26; 34(a) of Form 3CD for FY 2025-26), and an error report. Nothing leaves your device.

Common uses

• Small deductors and CA offices preparing quarterly statements without installing the Java RPU.
• Turning an accounting export (Tally, Zoho Books, Busy, Excel) into the statement layout.
• Correcting a statement the FVU rejected: load the .txt, fix the rows, download it again.
• Working out interest and the late-filing fee before paying the challan for a late statement.

What is checked before you download

• The file format: every check of the TDS return file validator — record order and counts, field types and lengths, mandatory fields, PAN and TAN structure, section codes and remarks of the form and year, dates within the quarter, the challan totals and whether each challan covers the tax claimed from it.
• Rates: for Form No. 140 (Tax Year 2026-27) and Form 26Q of FY 2025-26, each row’s rate is compared with the standard rate of its section from the TDS calculator engine (10% for 1027, 2% for 1026, 1% or 2% for contractors by the payee’s PAN…). A lower rate needs remark A and the certificate number; a higher one often means the wrong section code. Earlier years had other rates and limits, so their statements get the format checks only.
• Thresholds: remark Y (no deduction, below the threshold) is flagged when the rows of the same payee and section in the statement already cross the yearly threshold.
• Interest and fee: interest for late deduction or deposit is worked out for every row, and the fee for the date you will file; both are compared with the amounts shown in the challans.

Interest and the late-filing fee

Interest under section 398(3)(a) of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (section 201(1A) of the 1961 Act for FY 2025-26): 1% for every month or part of a month from the date the tax was deductible (the date of payment or credit) to the date it was deducted, and 1.5% for every month or part of a month from the date of deduction to the date of deposit, when the deposit is after the due date — the 7th of the next month, 30 April for March (rule 218 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026); an office of the Government paying with a challan has until the 7th, March included (rule 218(1)(b)). For TCS in Form 27EQ (FY 2025-26 and earlier) interest is 1% for every month or part of a month from the date the tax was collectible to the date it was paid, when it was collected or paid late (section 206C(7) of the 1961 Act), and TCS was due by the 7th of the next month, March included (rule 37CA). The tool counts each calendar month the period touches as a month, the higher of the readings of “part of a month”; the intimation after processing is what you finally pay.

Fee under section 427 (234E of the 1961 Act): ₹200 for every day after the due date — 31 July, 31 October, 31 January and 31 May (rule 219(4); rule 31A for FY 2025-26), and for Form 27EQ 15 July, 15 October, 15 January and 15 May (rule 31AA; see Protean’s FAQ) — never more than the tax in the statement, paid before the statement is delivered. Show interest and fee in the “Interest” and “Fee” columns of the challan they were paid with.

The section summary for the tax audit report

The summary lists, for each section code of the statement, the total paid, the amount on which tax was required to be deducted, the amounts deducted at the rate in the Act and at a lower rate with their tax, and tax deducted but not deposited — columns (A) to (J) of clause 50(a) of the tax audit report in Form No. 26 (the Schedule TDS/TCS), and of clause 34(a) of Form 3CD for FY 2025-26. Rows with a no-deduction remark (Y, B, T …) count as not required. The clause covers the whole year: add the four quarters.

Sources

File formats, FVU and RPU: Protean e-TDS/TCS regular return downloads. Forms, payment and statement due dates: rules 218 and 219 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026, where the tax audit report Form No. 26 is also set out; for FY 2025-26 and earlier, rules 30, 31A, 31AA and 37CA of the Income-tax Rules, 1962, with the statement due dates also in Protean’s FAQ. Interest, fee and the higher rate without PAN: sections 397, 398 and 427 of the Income-tax Act, 2025; sections 201(1A), 206C(7), 206AA and 234E of the Income-tax Act, 1961 for FY 2025-26 and earlier. Standard rates and thresholds: the TDS calculator and its sources.

Limitations

• Regular statements only — not correction statements.
• The fourth quarter of the salary statements (Form No. 138 and Form 24Q) needs the salary annexure, which this tool does not write; it writes their first three quarters.
• The FVU matches every challan with the bank’s data in the .csi file; this tool cannot. Copy the BSR code, date, serial number and amounts exactly from the challan.
• Rates are compared with the standard rate of the section; special cases (lower-deduction certificates, notified exemptions, DTAA rates for non-residents) depend on documents only you have.
• Saved deductors and payees are kept in this browser’s storage; clearing the site’s data removes them, and they do not move to other devices.
• An aid for preparing the file, not tax advice. The FVU is the final check of the format, and the deductor answers for the contents.

Privacy

Your challans, payees and PANs stay in this browser: the file is made here and never uploaded. Saved deductors (and payees, if you tick “Remember payees”) are kept in this browser’s local storage until you delete them.