Compliance in a small company fails on dates, not on knowledge. Here is every recurring date, what triggers it, and what has to be true in your records for it to be met.
A small Indian employer has roughly five monthly dates, one quarterly, two half-yearly and six annual statutory obligations tied to payroll. The monthly ones are the ones that hurt: wages paid by the 7th, TDS on salary deposited by the 7th, PF and ESI contributions filed and paid by the 15th, and professional tax on the date your state sets. Whether each applies depends on headcount and wage thresholds, so the calendar below is paired with the trigger for each line. Dates checked 11 September 2026; confirm state-specific items with your consultant.
| Scheme | Applies when |
|---|---|
| Provident Fund (EPF) | 20 or more employees; mandatory for staff with wages up to ₹15,000, optional above with consent |
| ESI | 10 or more employees in a notified area (20 in some states); covers staff with gross wages up to ₹21,000 |
| Professional tax | State-specific; most states from the first employee, with slab rates set by the state |
| TDS on salary | Any employee whose estimated annual income exceeds the basic exemption limit |
| Payment of Bonus | 20 or more employees; eligible staff with wages up to ₹21,000 |
| Gratuity | 10 or more employees; payable to staff completing five years (one year for fixed-term) |
| Maternity Benefit | 10 or more employees |
| Shops & Establishments | Registration and returns per state; applies from the first employee in most states |
Headcount is counted across the establishment, and once a threshold is crossed the obligation generally continues even if headcount later dips. The month you hire your tenth or twentieth person is a compliance event; put it in the onboarding checklist so it is noticed.
| By the 2nd | Attendance and leave for the previous month final — corrections closed, LOP days confirmed. Not statutory; everything below depends on it. |
|---|---|
| By the 7th | Wages paid for the previous month (Code on Wages, establishments under 1,000 employees). |
| By the 7th | TDS on salary deposited for the previous month (30 April for March deductions). |
| By the 15th | PF ECR filed and contribution paid for the previous month. |
| By the 15th | ESI contribution paid for the previous month. |
| State date | Professional tax deducted and remitted — e.g. by the end of the month in Maharashtra, the 20th in Karnataka. Check your state. |
Notice the compression: the payroll must be computed, paid and its deductions deposited within the first week. That is only possible when the month's attendance is not being argued about in the first week. A monthly payroll process that closes on time is the real compliance tool.
| 31 July | Form 24Q (TDS on salary return) for April–June |
|---|---|
| 31 October | Form 24Q for July–September |
| 31 January | Form 24Q for October–December |
| 31 May | Form 24Q for January–March (includes the annual salary detail) |
| 11 May | ESI half-yearly return for October–March |
| 11 November | ESI half-yearly return for April–September |
| 15 June | Form 16 issued to every employee for the previous financial year |
|---|---|
| 30 November | Statutory bonus paid — within eight months of the financial year's close |
| Per state | Labour Welfare Fund contributions (e.g. June and December in Maharashtra; annual in some states) |
| Per state | Shops & Establishments annual return and registration renewal |
| 31 January | POSH annual report to the district officer, where an Internal Committee is required (10 or more employees) |
| Start of year | Holiday list published — see building the company holiday calendar |
Every line above is computed from three records: who worked which days (attendance and leave), what they are paid and how it is structured (salary master with effective dates), and what was deducted (the payroll register). If those three are accurate and available on the 1st, the calendar is administrative. If they are reconstructed from a register, a WhatsApp group and a spreadsheet, the calendar is a monthly emergency.
Keep them for the statutory period — wage registers and attendance records are generally required for three years under the codes, longer for PF and income-tax purposes — and keep them somewhere that survives a laptop failure. What to ask any system holding them.
| Wages paid | By the 7th of the following month |
|---|---|
| TDS on salary | Deposit by the 7th; 24Q quarterly on 31 Jul, 31 Oct, 31 Jan, 31 May; Form 16 by 15 June |
| PF | ECR and payment by the 15th; applies at 20+ employees |
| ESI | Payment by the 15th; half-yearly returns by 11 May and 11 Nov; applies at 10+ employees, wages up to ₹21,000 |
| Professional tax | State-specific date and slabs |
| Bonus | By 30 November; applies at 20+ employees, wages up to ₹21,000 |
| Record retention | Generally three years for wage and attendance registers; longer for PF and tax |
The PF ECR must be filed and the contribution paid by the 15th of the month following the wage month. Late payment attracts interest and damages, and the deduction from the employee's salary is not recognised as a deduction for the employer until it is deposited.
TDS deducted from salary in a month must be deposited by the 7th of the following month, except for March, where the deadline is 30 April. The quarterly return, Form 24Q, is due on 31 July, 31 October, 31 January and 31 May, and Form 16 must be issued to employees by 15 June.
ESI applies to establishments with 10 or more employees in areas where the scheme is notified (20 in some states), covering employees whose gross wages are up to ₹21,000 a month. Contributions are due by the 15th of the following month, with half-yearly returns by 11 May and 11 November.
No. Professional tax is a state levy, with different slabs and different remittance dates — some states remit monthly, some annually, and a few do not levy it at all. Check the rule for the state where the employee works, which is not always the state where the company is registered.
The labour codes generally require wage and attendance registers to be preserved for three years. PF, ESI and income-tax records can be called for over longer periods, so most small businesses keep payroll history for at least seven years, ideally in a system rather than on a single laptop.
The 15th for PF and ESI, usually because the payroll itself was late and the deposit was the last step. The fix is upstream: close attendance within two days of month-end so wages can be paid by the 7th and deposits follow with a week to spare.
Merik is the record the calendar depends on, not the filing portal. Attendance, leave and work-from-home are captured as they happen and rolled into the month; payroll is computed on the server from those days, with basic, HRA, other allowance, professional tax, LOP, incentives and arrears on every payslip; and every run is stored, so the register your consultant needs for the 15th is a report, not a reconstruction.
Because employees mark their own attendance and download their own payslips, the first week of the month is spent paying people rather than counting them. Filing PF, ESI and TDS stays with you or your accountant — Merik gives them numbers that are already final. Start with the payroll module, or run the ROI calculator on what the monthly reconciliation currently costs you.
The 50% wages rule, fixed-term gratuity, 180-day leave, wages by the 7th — decoded.
PF, ESI, professional tax and TDS — what to get right each month.
A practical monthly process for founders and office managers.