Annual compliance calendar for a Private Limited Company

What does a small company have to file every year?

Every Private Limited Company, whatever its turnover, has three layers of compliance: Companies Act filings with the Registrar of Companies (ROC), income tax and TDS filings, and GST filings if registered.

The fixed annual list for a company with a 31 March year end:

• Board meetings: at least four a year with no more than 120 days between two.
• Statutory audit of the accounts by the appointed auditor.
• Annual General Meeting by 30 September.
• [AOC-4](/glossary/aoc-4/) (financial statements) within 30 days of the AGM.
• [MGT-7A](/glossary/mgt-7a/) (annual return for small companies and OPCs; MGT-7 for others) within 60 days of the AGM.
• [DIR-3 KYC](/glossary/dir-3-kyc/) for every director by 30 September.
• [DPT-3](/glossary/dpt-3/) (return of deposits and loans) by 30 June.
• [MSME-1](/glossary/msme-1/) half-yearly by 30 April and 31 October if any MSME supplier was paid after 45 days.
• Income tax return by 31 October, with the tax audit report by 30 September if applicable.
• TDS returns quarterly and GST returns monthly or quarterly.

Our Compliance Calendar tool lists the same dates for your entity type, month by month.

When is the AGM and what happens there?

The Annual General Meeting must be held within six months of the financial year end, so by 30 September for a March year end, and no more than 15 months after the previous AGM. A newly incorporated company gets nine months from the end of its first financial year for its first AGM.

At the AGM the shareholders adopt the audited financial statements, appoint or ratify the auditor, declare any dividend and reappoint directors who retire by rotation.

The practical sequence in August and September is: auditor signs the accounts, board approves them and the directors' report at a board meeting, a 21-day notice goes to members, the AGM is held and minuted, and then the two ROC filings run from the AGM date. Missing the 30 September date is a compoundable offence with a penalty on the company and every officer in default, and it also delays AOC-4 and MGT-7A. Our Company Annual Filings service prepares the minutes, notice and directors' report as part of the package.

What are AOC-4 and MGT-7A, and when are they due?

AOC-4 files the audited financial statements, the auditor's report and the directors' report with the ROC. It is due within 30 days of the AGM, so by 29 October if the AGM was held on 30 September. Companies that file under Ind AS use AOC-4 IND AS and companies with subsidiaries add AOC-4 CFS.

MGT-7A is the annual return for small companies and OPCs, capturing the registered office, shareholding, directors and meetings held. Other companies file MGT-7, and companies above the prescribed size attach a certificate from a company secretary in MGT-8. The return is due within 60 days of the AGM, so by 28 November after a 30 September AGM.

The late fee is the reason to take these seriously: ₹100 per day per form with no cap. A company that files both forms 90 days late pays ₹18,000 in additional fees alone, and the directors remain liable to prosecution for continued default. Each form is signed with the DSC of a director and certified by a practising professional, so book the signatures early. The Late Fee Calculator shows the exact figure for any delay.

What is DIR-3 KYC and why is 30 September the hard date?

Every person who holds a DIN must confirm their KYC with the MCA each year by 30 September. A director filing for the first time, or one whose email or mobile changed, files the full DIR-3 KYC form with DSC. Everyone else uses the web-based DIR-3 KYC-WEB, which takes a few minutes with OTPs on the registered email and mobile.

There is no fee if filed by 30 September. From 1 October the DIN is marked deactivated and reactivation costs ₹5,000 per director. A deactivated DIN blocks the director from signing any MCA form, which in turn holds up AOC-4 and MGT-7A, so one late KYC can cascade into ₹100-a-day late fees on the company's filings.

The form is personal to the director, not the company, so a founder who is a director in three companies files once. New directors appointed during the year file it the following September. Because it needs the director's own DSC and OTPs, we schedule it in the first fortnight of September rather than the last week, when the portal slows down.

What are DPT-3, MSME-1 and ADT-1?

These three forms trip up first-time founders because they are easy to overlook.

DPT-3 is the annual return of deposits, due by 30 June for the previous financial year. Even if a company has taken no public deposits, it must report money received that is exempt from being treated as deposits, which includes loans from directors and shareholders, advances from customers outstanding beyond 365 days and inter-company borrowings. Almost every startup with a director loan must file it.

MSME-1 is a half-yearly return of amounts owed to micro and small enterprises that were outstanding for more than 45 days, due by 30 April for October to March and by 31 October for April to September. If you paid every MSME supplier within 45 days, no return is needed for that half.

ADT-1 notifies the ROC of an auditor's appointment within 15 days of the meeting that appointed them. It is filed after incorporation for the first auditor and again at the AGM when an auditor is appointed for a five-year term. Filing it late attracts the standard additional fee.

What are the income tax and TDS dates for a company?

A company files its income tax return in ITR-6 by 31 October, because every company's accounts are audited under the Companies Act. If turnover crosses the tax audit limit (₹1 crore, or ₹10 crore when cash receipts and payments are each under 5%), the tax audit report in Form 3CA-3CD is due by 30 September. For tax year 2026-27 the return is filed under the Income-tax Act 2025, which applies from 1 April 2026 and renumbers the familiar sections.

Advance tax is paid in four instalments: 15% by 15 June, 45% by 15 September, 75% by 15 December and 100% by 15 March.

Once the company pays salaries, rent, professional fees or contractor bills above the thresholds, it deducts TDS and deposits it by the 7th of the next month (30 April for March). Quarterly TDS returns in 24Q (salaries) and 26Q (others) are due by 31 July, 31 October, 31 January and 31 May. Form 16 goes to employees by 15 June. Late returns cost ₹200 a day under Section 234E. Our TDS Returns and Income Tax services cover this cycle.

What does the GST calendar add?

If the company is GST-registered, the monthly cycle runs alongside everything above.

• GSTR-1 by the 11th of the following month (or the 13th of the month after the quarter under QRMP, with the optional Invoice Furnishing Facility by the 13th of the first two months).
• GSTR-3B by the 20th of the following month for monthly filers; QRMP filers pay tax monthly by the 25th and file 3B by the 22nd or 24th after the quarter depending on the state.
• GSTR-9 annual return by 31 December for turnover above ₹2 crore, with the reconciliation statement GSTR-9C above ₹5 crore.
• ITC reconciliation with GSTR-2B before every 3B, since credit not appearing there cannot be claimed.

Late fees are ₹50 per day per return (₹20 for nil returns) with caps by turnover, and interest on unpaid tax is 18% a year. Missing two consecutive 3B returns blocks e-way bill generation, and six months of non-filing can lead to cancellation of the GSTIN. See GST Filing for how we run the monthly cycle.

How do you run this without missing a date?

The companies that stay compliant treat the year as four blocks.

• April to June: close the books, start the audit, file MSME-1 (30 April), the Q4 TDS return (31 May), Form 16 (15 June), advance tax (15 June) and DPT-3 (30 June).
• July to September: Q1 TDS return (31 July), advance tax (15 September), DIR-3 KYC and AGM (30 September), tax audit report if applicable (30 September).
• October to December: AOC-4 (within 30 days of AGM), ITR (31 October), Q2 TDS return and MSME-1 (31 October), MGT-7A (within 60 days of AGM), advance tax (15 December), GSTR-9 (31 December).
• January to March: Q3 TDS return (31 January), advance tax (15 March), year-end planning.

Keep the DSCs of all directors valid and the DIR-3 KYC done early, because every ROC form depends on them. Reconcile the bank, GST and TDS monthly so the audit does not become a September scramble. And record every board meeting as it happens; minutes reconstructed in September are the first thing an auditor questions. A fixed-fee annual package such as our Company Annual Filings service exists so that these dates are someone's job, not something a founder remembers.