May 2026 Tax Watchlist: ITR Deadlines, GSTR Calendar, and Form 15G/H Submission Cut-Offs

May 2026 opens with the busiest fortnight on India's compliance calendar after the September reporting cycle. Between 7 May and 31 May, at least nine statutory cut-offs converge on tax deductors, GST registrants, and listed companies, every one of them tied to a non-discretionary penalty. Section 234E of the Income Tax Act 1961 levies Rs 200 per day of delay on TDS statement filings, capped at the TDS amount; Section 50 of the CGST Act 2017 runs interest at 18% per annum on unpaid GST; and SEBI LODR Regulation 33 fixes 30 May 2026 as the universal cut-off for FY 2025-26 audited results.

This Tomorrow's Watchlist consolidates every confirmed May 2026 deadline drawn from the Income Tax Department compliance calendar and the relevant statutory texts at indiacode.nic.in. Use it as a planning grid for the next 31 days, and remember that the RBI Monetary Policy Committee's next decision falls outside the month, on 3-5 June 2026, so May markets will trade on backward-looking macro data alone.

Statutory Deadlines

The compliance fortnight runs front-loaded. April-month transactions fall due across the first three weeks of May, while FY 2025-26 closure work, TDS quarterly filings and Form 16 preparation, settles on the final working day. The table below collates the confirmed cut-offs.

A few items deserve fuller notes.

7 May, TDS deposit. Tax deducted in April 2026 must reach the government account by 7 May 2026 via Challan ITNS-281. Government deductors paying without challan have until the same date when reporting via book entry. Late deposit attracts simple interest of 1.5% per month under Section 201(1A), calculated from the date the tax was deductible to the date it is actually paid, not credited. Salaried filers can verify monthly deductions via Form 26AS.

11 and 13 May, GSTR-1 split. Monthly registrants file the full GSTR-1 by 11 May. QRMP filers, businesses with annual aggregate turnover up to Rs 5 crore who opted for quarterly filing, submit only the Invoice Furnishing Facility (IFF) by 13 May, covering B2B invoices for April that the recipient needs for input tax credit. Skipping the IFF doesn't attract late fees, but recipients lose the corresponding ITC for two months until the QRMP quarterly GSTR-1 is filed in July.

20 May, GSTR-3B. Monthly filers report April supplies and pay tax. QRMP filers have no GSTR-3B in May, their next quarterly GSTR-3B (Q1 FY 2026-27) is due 22 or 24 July depending on the state of principal place of business. Interest at 18% per annum under Section 50, CGST Act 2017 applies on the late portion of net tax liability.

31 May, TDS Q4 statement. Form 24Q (salary), Form 26Q (resident non-salary), and Form 27Q (non-resident payments) for the quarter ended 31 March 2026 are all due. Filing this statement triggers the Form 16 (salary) and Form 16A (non-salary) certificate generation cycle, but the certificates themselves must be issued within 15 days under Rule 31(3), which sets 15 June 2026 as the practical Form 16 cut-off, not 31 May. Use our TDS calculator to validate amounts before filing. Quick refreshers on terminology live at TDS and Form 16.

31 May, Form 15G/15H. These declarations under Section 197A let resident individuals (15G for those under 60 with no tax liability, 15H for senior citizens whose tax is nil after rebate) request banks and other payers to skip TDS on interest, dividends, and certain other receipts. There is no fixed statutory cut-off date in the Act, but most banks and the post office process declarations on a quarterly batch, submitting before 31 May ensures coverage from the Q1 FY 2026-27 interest credit. Branches that miss the batch will deduct TDS at 10% on bank interest above Rs 50,000 (senior citizens) or Rs 40,000 (others) under Section 194A.

Market Events

May 2026 sits between MPC reviews. The Monetary Policy Committee held the repo rate at 5.25% on 8 April 2026, its second consecutive pause after the February 2026 hold, with cumulative 125 bps of cuts already delivered through 2025, and the next decision is scheduled for 3-5 June 2026. The April resolution from rbi.org.in cited West Asia geopolitical risk and Brent crude above USD 100 per barrel as drivers of the hold, while marking down FY27 GDP to 6.9% and projecting CPI at 4.6%.

May trading sessions will therefore run on backward-looking data and on rupee-liquidity signals from the RBI's variable rate operations. The other policy levers stay anchored at the levels set on 8 April 2026: Standing Deposit Facility 5.00%, Marginal Standing Facility 5.50%, Bank Rate 5.50%. Equity flows from FPIs and SIP volumes, currently tracked monthly by AMFI, will be the second-order indicator of how much of the RBI's prior easing has actually transmitted into riskier assets.

For investors building positions ahead of the June review, our SIP calculator and the step-up SIP calculator help model contributions across the policy gap.

Earnings

Q4 FY 2025-26 results season runs through May. SEBI LODR Regulation 33(3)(a) requires every listed entity to file standalone and consolidated audited financial results within 60 days from the end of the financial year, fixing 30 May 2026 as the cut-off for the year ended 31 March 2026. Filings arrive throughout the month via the corporate announcements systems on BSE and NSE, with auditor reports and statements on impact of audit qualifications attached.

The same regulation imposes a parallel obligation: companies that publish unaudited Q4 numbers separately from the annual audit must do so within 45 days of quarter-end, that is by 15 May 2026. In practice, most issuers consolidate the two, disclosing audited Q4 numbers and FY 2025-26 annuals together, then dispatching the annual report to shareholders alongside the AGM notice within the six-month AGM window set by Section 96 of the Companies Act 2013.

Specific earnings dates are not pre-confirmed in the angle's briefing, and neither BSE nor NSE publish a unified results calendar in advance. Investors should track each company's individual results announcement, which under Reg 30 must be intimated to the exchanges at least 2 working days in advance.

Practical Planning Notes

A short consolidated checklist for individual taxpayers:

Three planning rules cut through the calendar: pay TDS by the 7th, file GST returns by the 11th and 20th, and finish FY 2025-26 closure by 31 May. Salaried readers can double-check the impact of Section 87A relief, now Rs 60,000 in the new regime under FY 2025-26, using the income tax calculator, and freelancers can model their first FY 2026-27 instalment via the advance tax calculator. For terminology, see our entries on advance tax and ITR.

FAQ

What happens if I miss the 31 May 2026 TDS Q4 filing?

A late-filing fee of Rs 200 per day under Section 234E runs from 1 June 2026 until the statement is actually filed, capped at the TDS amount. Beyond that, the assessing officer may impose a penalty of Rs 10,000 to Rs 1,00,000 under Section 271H, though Section 271H(3) waives this if the statement is filed within one year of the due date and the underlying tax, fee, and interest are deposited.

Is 31 May the deadline for issuing Form 16 to employees?

No. The deadline for Form 16 issuance under Rule 31(3) of the Income Tax Rules is 15 June 2026 for FY 2025-26. The 31 May 2026 cut-off is for filing the Form 24Q TDS statement; Form 16 is generated from the filed statement and must be issued within 15 days.

Can I submit Form 15G/15H electronically in May 2026?

Yes, most major banks accept e-submission via net banking. Section 197A and Rule 29C permit electronic declarations with a verification code. The deductor is then required under Rule 29C(3) to file the consolidated declarations with the Income Tax Department by 15 July 2026 for declarations received during Q1.

Is there a GSTR-3B due in May 2026 for QRMP filers?

No. QRMP-scheme filers, businesses with aggregate annual turnover up to Rs 5 crore who opted for quarterly filing, file GSTR-3B once per quarter. The next quarterly GSTR-3B for QRMP (Q1 FY 2026-27) is due 22 or 24 July 2026, depending on the state of the principal place of business. They do, however, file the IFF on 13 May for April invoices.

Does the RBI have any policy event in May 2026?

The Monetary Policy Committee held the repo rate at 5.25% on 8 April 2026 and meets next on 3-5 June 2026. May has no scheduled MPC review, but the RBI conducts regular variable rate repo and reverse-repo operations, weekly Treasury Bill auctions, and the periodic State Government Securities auctions, all listed on rbi.org.in.

What is the SEBI deadline for FY 2025-26 audited financial results?

30 May 2026. Regulation 33(3)(a) of the SEBI LODR Regulations 2015 requires listed entities to submit audited standalone and consolidated financial results within 60 days from the end of the financial year. Companies that fail to file within the deadline attract penal action under Section 23E of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act 1956.

Do non-resident Indians need to file Form 15G or 15H?

No. Section 197A(1) restricts these declarations to resident individuals. Non-residents earning Indian-source income are subject to TDS under Section 195 at the rate prescribed in Part II of the First Schedule to the Finance Act, or the DTAA rate (whichever is lower) on submission of Form 10F and a Tax Residency Certificate. Capital gains earned in India by NRIs are not exempt under DTAAs in most cases; India retains taxing rights at 12.5% on long-term equity gains.