Quick answer: Salary TDS now runs on new form numbers: Form 124 for the employee's claims (earlier 12BB), Form 138 for the quarterly statement (earlier 24Q) and Form 130 for the year-end certificate (earlier Form 16). Keka says it generates and files quarterly statements, RazorpayX Payroll says it automates TDS payments and filings, and greytHR and Zoho Payroll generate the files and certificates. Specialist tools such as TDSMAN suit accountants.
How we researched this: We read the Income Tax Department's Form 138 user manual and TDS compliance guidance on incometax.gov.in, the e-Filing pages on Form 12BB, Form 16 and regime choice, the TRACES brochure on TDS statements and certificates, and the product, pricing and compliance pages of Keka, greytHR, Zoho Payroll, Kredily, RazorpayX, TDSMAN, Saral TDS and ClearTax. Everything was checked in October 2026.
The salary-TDS year in new numbers
Until March 2026 every payroll team knew the cycle by heart: collect Form 12BB, deduct monthly, file 24Q four times, issue Form 16. Three of those forms now carry new numbers under the Income-tax Rules, 2026, and the section for salary TDS moved from 192 to 392.
| Old name | New name | What it is | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Form 12BB | Form 124 | Employee's claims for HRA, LTA, home-loan interest and deductions | Keka and TDSMAN pages |
| Form 24Q | Form 138 | Quarterly salary-TDS statement | Income Tax Department's Form 138 manual |
| Form 16 | Form 130 | Year-end TDS certificate for salary | Keka, TDSMAN and Zoho pages |
| Form 12BA | Form 123 | Statement of perquisites | TDSMAN mapping |
The Income Tax Department's TDS guidance explains the cut-over. Salary for the earlier year follows section 192 of the old Act and salary for tax year 2026-27 follows section 392(1) of the Income-tax Act, 2025. Corrections for periods up to 31 March 2026 stay on the old framework and forms. Zoho's guide adds that Form 16 is still used for FY 2025-26 and that the rename to Form 130 takes effect from tax year 2026-27, so the first Form 130 you issue is in June 2027.
Some official pages still show the old names. The e-Filing portal's help page describes Form 12BB as particulars of claims by an employee under section 192 and Form 16 as the certificate under section 203 of the 1961 Act. That is not a contradiction; it is the old Act still applying to FY 2025-26.
Your 2027 calendar
- 31 October 2026: Form 138 for the July to September quarter, per the portal manual (it also lists 31 July, 31 January and 31 May for the other quarters).
- April 2027: declarations for the new year. Keka's guide says employees should submit the declaration at the start of the financial year, or on joining.
- December to February: proof collection, per Keka's typical window.
- 31 January and 31 May 2027: the third and fourth quarterly statements.
- 15 June 2027: the year-end certificate. Zoho's guide says employers issue Form 130 by 15 June after the tax year, and the TRACES brochure gives the same date for Form 16 under the old numbering.
Declarations: Form 124 and the income tax declaration portal
A declaration portal replaces the April email chain with a spreadsheet. What matters is what it collects and when it recalculates TDS.
The regime question. The e-Filing portal's FAQ says the employee intimates the employer of the intended tax regime during the year. If no intimation is made, the employee is presumed to continue in the default regime, and the employer deducts at section 115BAC rates. The page adds that the intimation to the employer does not by itself amount to exercising the option; that is done separately in the return. So your software must record the chosen regime per employee and show the effect on take-home pay.
The claims. Keka's guide says Part B of Form 124 covers LTA, HRA, interest on borrowings and deductions under Chapters VIII-A and VIII-B, and that the landlord's PAN is required if annual rent exceeds ₹1 lakh. Zoho's guide says that for rent over ₹1 lakh paid to a relative, the landlord's name, PAN and relationship must be declared, or the HRA claim is invalidated. Treat both as vendor explanations, and have your accountant check the rule against the Rules.
What the portals offer:
- Keka: online declaration with "built-in validation against statutory limits", tracking of pending proofs, and reminders before the declaration and proof windows. Its payroll page lists declarations, proof submissions, Form 16 and Form 24Q under employee tax management in the entry plan.
- greytHR: the employee portal covers PIT declarations, proof of investment submissions, YTD statements, IT statements and Form 16.
- Zoho Payroll: employees submit IT declarations and proofs of investment digitally and receive alerts for proof submission.
- Kredily: lists Form 12BB and Form 16 from its Payroll OS plan at ₹1,249 a month for 25 employees. Its page still uses the old numbers, so ask how it labels the 2026-27 form.
For small teams, our guide to automating payroll explains where declarations fit in the monthly run.
Monthly TDS: compute, deposit, reset
The TDS guidance on the portal says the employer must reset the computation from 1 April 2026 based on projected income, deductions and the chosen regime, and that section 80C deductions are now referenced under the 2025 Act's schedule and section numbering. It also says TDS deducted in March 2026 was due by 30 April 2026 and that late deposit attracts interest at 1.5% per month from the date of deduction to the date of payment.
In a demo, ask for three live cases: an employee who switches regime in October, a mid-year joiner with a previous-employer salary, and an employee who submits proofs in February that reduce the year's tax. Watch what the tool does to the remaining months' TDS.
Form 138: who actually files it
The Form 138 user manual on incometax.gov.in is the clearest description of the filing mechanics. It says the form is for employers deducting tax from salaries (and specified banks), that you need a valid TAN registered on the portal, the latest Return Preparation Utility from NSDL (Protean), a valid FVU file and a registered DSC if uploading with one. The steps are: prepare and validate in the utility, create the FVU file and zip it, log in with the TAN, choose Form 138, the tax year, quarter and upload type (regular or correction), upload and e-verify. A mismatch between the RRR number in the FVU file and the one on the form is listed as a rejection reason for corrections.
So "files TDS" can mean three different things:
- Generates a validated FVU file that your accountant uploads. greytHR lists one-click Form 24Q generation with automatic FVU validation.
- Generates and submits. Keka's compliance page says it generates and files 24Q and 26Q, and cites Forms 138 and 140 under the 2026 Rules. RazorpayX Payroll says it automates TDS payments and timely quarterly filings but does not say who submits.
- Records challans and prepares data. Zoho Payroll's Standard plan lists Form 138 and TDS challan recording, and Form 130 generation with digital signature. Its Free plan has an automatic TDS worksheet.
Ask each vendor for the answers in writing: whose TAN logs in, who holds the DSC, who e-verifies, and who fixes a rejected file.
Rejection traps worth testing before the deadline
The manual lists specific ways a Form 138 upload fails or gets rejected, and each is a test for your software or your accountant:
- FVU version mismatch. The FVU version must match the version shown on the e-Filing form screen.
- Wrong upload type. Uploading a correction FVU as a regular statement, or the reverse, is a listed cause of rejection.
- RRR mismatch. For corrections, the RRR number inside the FVU file must match the one entered on the landing screen.
A rejected form is reported by email with the reason and can be fixed by uploading a corrected zip, while an accepted one goes to TRACES for processing. A payroll tool that files on your behalf should show you the status and the rejection message, not just a green tick. For a payroll-only vendor, ask whether its filing engine tracks the utility's version changes. Darwinbox is one example of a vendor whose payroll page lists a managed-services option covering periodic returns for enterprises.
A 60-person Chennai engineering firm, March to June
In March the finance head freezes TDS for the year and checks that every employee's regime and proofs are final. In April she collects fresh declarations on the new form and resets monthly TDS. By 31 May the fourth-quarter statement goes up with the year's salary details, and by 15 June each employee receives the certificate. If the payroll tool files, she reviews the FVU summary first; if it only generates, her accountant uploads. Our Keka vs greytHR comparison shows how two popular tools price this, and the PF, ESI and PT calculation guide covers the other statutory dues that fall in the same weeks. Employees who also need to file their own returns can compare tools in ClearTax vs Tax2win.
Form 130 and Form 16: certificate rules
The TRACES brochure says the annual Form 16 is due on 15 June following the financial year, that Part A shows PANs reported in the fourth-quarter statement, and tells deductors to download the certificate from TRACES bearing a unique certificate number. The brochure was published under the old numbering, so use it for the logic, not the labels. The Form 138 manual notes that an accepted statement goes to TRACES for further processing.
The practical test: ask whether the certificate your payroll tool generates is the one downloaded from TRACES, or an internally generated document, and who bears the consequences if PANs in the statement are wrong. Vendors word this differently. Keka says it generates digitally signed Form 16 (Form 130) for each employee in one click; greytHR lists digitally signed Form 16 and 12BA; RazorpayX's dashboard gives employees payslips and Form 16.
When a specialist TDS tool beats the payroll module
TDSMAN lists Form 24Q/138 along with 26Q/140, 27Q/144 and 27EQ/143, in desktop (licensed for FY 2026-27) and cloud (annual subscription) editions, with a free trial. Saral TDS describes eTDS return generation with the department's validation utility, direct integration with TRACES and certificate download, and says it has 60,000-plus users, a figure from its own page. Clear TDS offers cloud preparation of regular and correction statements, and lists expert-assisted 24Q filing plans "from ₹1,500". None of the three published licence prices on the pages we read.
Choose a specialist tool if you are a chartered accountant or if you file for several deductors, if you correct old-period statements, or if your payroll tool only exports data. See our comparison of TDSMAN, Saral and Webtel, the TDS compliance software overview and income tax software for CA firms. Browse the tax software category and payroll software category for more.
Buying checklist
- Does the product label use Forms 124, 138 and 130 or only the old names?
- Can it produce a Form 138 file that the current utility validates?
- Who submits, who holds the DSC, and what is the fix process for a rejection?
- How are corrections for periods before 1 April 2026 handled under the old forms?
- Does it show the effect of a regime change on take-home pay?
- Can employees see their tax computation and upload proofs from a phone?
FAQs
Which HR software generates Form 16 automatically?
Keka, greytHR, Zoho Payroll, Kredily and RazorpayX all list Form 16 or its new equivalent, Form 130. Zoho lists Form 130 with digital signature from its Standard plan, and Kredily lists Form 16 from Payroll OS. Ask whether the output matches the TRACES certificate.
Can payroll software file Form 24Q (Form 138) for me?
Some can. Keka says it generates and files quarterly statements, while greytHR generates the file with FVU validation. RazorpayX says it automates filings. The Income Tax Department's manual requires a TAN login, an FVU file and e-verification, so confirm who completes each step.
What replaced Form 12BB?
Keka and TDSMAN both say Form 124 replaced Form 12BB under the Income-tax Rules, 2026, with the legal basis in section 392(5)(b) and rule 205. Some official e-Filing pages still show Form 12BB for FY 2025-26.
What is the due date for Form 138?
The portal manual lists 31 July, 31 October and 31 January for the first three quarters and 31 May of the following year for the fourth.
How do employees claim HRA and home loan interest through the employer?
By submitting the claim form to the employer, now Form 124, usually at the start of the year or on joining, followed by proofs. An income tax declaration portal collects both and recalculates the TDS.
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