October 2026 packs 13 GST and income tax due dates between the 7th and the 31st, and the tax audit report date moved from 30 September to 21 October. CBDT Circular 07/2026, dated 28 September 2026, extended the audit report date for assessment year 2026-27 to 21 October and pushed the income tax return date for the audit-covered category from 31 October to 21 November. Everyone else keeps the usual dates.
Short answer: if you are a freelancer or small business with GST, mark 11 October for GSTR-1, 20 October for GSTR-3B and 31 October for any TDS statements you owe. If you are on the quarterly scheme, 13 October and the 22nd or 24th replace the monthly dates. If you need a tax audit, 21 October and 21 November are the dates that changed. The table below lists every date, who it applies to and what a miss costs. Dates are from the October 2026 TaxGuru calendar and the CBDT circular.
Every October 2026 due date
| Date (weekday) | What is due | Who it applies to |
|---|
| 7 Oct (Wed) | TDS and TCS deposit for September | Anyone who deducted or collected tax in September |
| 10 Oct (Sat) | GSTR-7 (GST TDS) and GSTR-8 (e-commerce TCS) | Government deductors under GST; e-commerce operators |
| 11 Oct (Sun) | GSTR-1, monthly, for September | Registered persons filing monthly outward supply returns |
| 13 Oct (Tue) | GSTR-1 quarterly (QRMP, July to September), GSTR-6 and GSTR-5 | Quarterly filers with turnover up to Rs 5 crore; Input Service Distributors; non-resident taxable persons |
| 15 Oct (Thu) | Specified quarterly income tax statements | IFSC units, authorised dealers, stock brokers and exchanges |
| 18 Oct (Sun) | CMP-08 for July to September | Composition scheme taxpayers |
| 20 Oct (Tue) | GSTR-3B, monthly; GSTR-5A | Monthly filers; OIDAR service providers |
| 21 Oct (Wed) | Tax audit report (extended from 30 Sep) | Assessees whose accounts need a tax audit under section 44AB |
| 22 Oct (Thu) or 24 Oct (Sat) | Quarterly GSTR-3B for July to September, with September tax paid in it, by state group | QRMP taxpayers, standard rule |
| 28 Oct (Wed) | GSTR-11 | Holders of a UIN, such as embassies |
| 30 Oct (Fri) | Form 141 challan-cum-statement for September | Payers who file deduction statements per payment rather than quarterly |
| 31 Oct (Sat) | Forms 138, 140, 143 and 144, quarterly TDS and TCS statements for Q2 of FY 2026-27 | Deductors and collectors |
| 21 Nov (Sat) | Income tax return for the audit-covered category (was 31 Oct) | Assessees under serial 2 of Explanation 2 to section 139(1) |
Three of these land on a Sunday: the 11th, 18th and 25th. The GST portal accepts filings on Sundays, so the date is the date. Do not bank on a next-working-day extension, because none is announced for these dates. File on Friday the 9th, Friday the 16th and Friday the 23rd.
The 22 and 24 October dates for quarterly GSTR-3B follow the standard QRMP rule: which one applies depends on your state or union territory group. The portal shows yours on your return dashboard. Check it there, because guessing wrong turns a quarterly filer into a late filer.
What the 21 October change covers, and what it does not
Read the circular's scope before you relax. It applies to the assessment year 2026-27, previous year 2025-26, and to persons in the category that Explanation 2 to section 139(1) assigns an extended return date. That is the audit category. It is not a blanket extension for all taxpayers.
If your gross receipts as a professional are at or below Rs 50 lakh, you do not need a tax audit under the professional limit. If you opted for the presumptive scheme under section 44ADA and declared 50% or more of receipts as income, you also stay out of audit. The 21 October and 21 November dates do not apply to you. Your return date remains the standard one for non-audit individuals. If you have not filed yet, a belated or revised return for assessment year 2026-27 is reported by a third-party source as open until 31 December 2026, with a late fee under section 234F. Verify that date on the income tax portal.
CBDT said a formal order would follow the circular. One commentary notes the precise scope should be examined once that order appears. Check the Income Tax Department site before relying on 21 November if your return is close to the line.
What a missed date costs
The fee and interest figures below are statutory rates, not forecasts. Use them to rank dates, not to budget for missing them.
| Miss | Statutory exposure | Example |
|---|
| GSTR-1 or GSTR-3B late | Late fee of Rs 50 a day (Rs 20 a day for a nil return), capped by turnover band under notification; interest of 18% a year on tax paid late | GSTR-3B for a Rs 1,00,000 tax liability filed 10 days late: Rs 500 fee plus about Rs 493 interest |
| Quarterly TDS statement late | Fee of Rs 200 a day under section 234E, capped at the TDS amount | Statement filed 15 days late: Rs 3,000 |
| TDS deposited late | Interest of 1.5% a month from the date of deduction to the date of deposit | Rs 20,000 deposited a month late: Rs 300 |
| Tax audit report late | Penalty under section 271B of 0.5% of turnover or Rs 1.5 lakh, whichever is lower | Turnover of Rs 60 lakh: Rs 30,000 |
| Income tax return late | Fee under section 234F: Rs 5,000, or Rs 1,000 if total income is up to Rs 5 lakh | Filed after the due date with Rs 8 lakh income: Rs 5,000 |
The GST rows are the ones that surprise small filers, because the daily fee looks tiny and the interest looks tinier. The real cost is the compliance record. A registered person who does not file GSTR-3B can find that the portal blocks GSTR-1. Under the notified rule, taxpayers with pending GSTR-3B for the last two months, or the last quarter for quarterly filers, are restricted from filing GSTR-1 or using the invoice furnishing facility. One missed 3B then becomes two missed returns. Run any specific case through the GST Late Fee and Interest Calculator before you decide a late filing is cheap.
A freelancer's October shortlist
Most freelancers do not owe fourteen things. A typical GST-registered consultant who sells services, mostly to Indian businesses plus a few foreign clients, owes three of them.
First, GSTR-1 on 11 October, or 13 October if you are on QRMP. List every invoice for September, including export invoices issued under a letter of undertaking. A missing invoice here is a missing credit for your client.
Second, GSTR-3B on 20 October for monthly filers, or on the 22nd or 24th for quarterly filers. This is the return that carries money. Net your output tax against input credit and pay the balance in cash. If you are on QRMP, September is the third month of the July to September quarter, so its tax is paid with the quarterly GSTR-3B and there is no PMT-06 this month. The next PMT-06 dates are 25 November for October and 25 December for November. Check your tax math with the GST Calculator before you pay.
Third, if clients deduct tax from your fees, nothing is due from you in October, but the deductor must file its quarterly statement by 31 October. Your credit appears in Form 26AS and the Annual Information Statement only after they file. If a client misses 31 October, your credit for July to September is missing, and you cannot claim it on your return. Ask your largest clients whether they have filed. It costs one message.
If you cross the Rs 20 lakh services threshold this quarter and you are not yet registered, registration is the date that matters, not any of the above. Read the whole picture in Freelancer Accounting in India, our long guide to GST, ITR and bookkeeping.
Export the dates to your calendar
A table in a blog post goes stale the minute you close the tab. The new GST Compliance Calendar 2026 turns the dates into entries you can export to your own calendar, so the 20th shows up on your phone before it shows up in a penalty notice. Choose the returns that apply to you, export the dates, and set a reminder two working days before each date. That buffer covers portal slowdowns, which cluster on the 10th, 11th and 20th.
Do the invoice side before the return side. Clean invoices make GSTR-1 a ten-minute job, and the GST Invoice Generator produces invoices with the fields a return needs. If you want a matching tracker for your own records, the freelancer templates collection and the full catalogue list tools built for solo workers.
Check the PMT-06 point carefully. Under Rule 61A and CBIC Circular 143/13/2020, QRMP filers use PMT-06 only for months one and two of a quarter, so the next challans fall on 25 November and 25 December. Plan the month in two halves. The first half, 7 to 13 October, is about outward supplies and TDS deposits: you list what you sold and what you withheld. The second half, 18 to 31 October, is about money and statements: you net tax, pay it and file what the tax department reconciles against. Splitting the month this way keeps the 20th from becoming a single day with five jobs on it.
Diwali falls on Sunday 8 November 2026, with Dhanteras on Friday 6 November. October filings finished early leave your festival week free of notices, and the 21 November date for audit cases arrives two weeks after the holiday.
Quick answers
What is the GSTR-3B due date in October 2026?
Monthly filers file GSTR-3B by 20 October 2026. Quarterly (QRMP) filers file by 22 or 24 October depending on state group, and pay September tax within that return. There is no PMT-06 due on 25 October 2026.
Has the tax audit date been extended?
Yes. CBDT Circular 07/2026 dated 28 September 2026 moves the audit report date for assessment year 2026-27 from 30 September to 21 October 2026, and the return date for the audit-covered category from 31 October to 21 November 2026.
Is GSTR-1 due on 11 October if I file quarterly?
No. Monthly filers use 11 October. QRMP filers file the quarterly GSTR-1 for July to September by 13 October.
Which date matters most for a registered freelancer?
GSTR-3B, because it carries the tax payment. GSTR-1 comes first on the 11th or 13th, and a client's quarterly TDS statement on 31 October decides when your tax credit appears.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, or legal advice. Consult a qualified professional for guidance specific to your situation.
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