If you're running a company in India, you already know the regulatory load is heavy. Central statutes, state-specific labour laws, sector regulations -- a mid-sized company can easily face over 100 compliance obligations every year. Miss one filing and you're looking at penalties, director disqualification, or a funding round that stalls during investor due diligence.
This statutory compliance checklist covers every major filing obligation for FY 2025-26: corporate law, tax, labour, and sector-specific requirements. Forms, deadlines, penalty amounts -- everything you need to build a solid compliance calendar.
What Is Statutory Compliance in India?
Put simply, it's the set of laws and regulations your business must follow. Not voluntary guidelines like ISO certifications. These are mandatory, and violations carry real consequences: financial penalties, prosecution of directors, or company strike-off.
What makes India tricky is that obligations come from multiple authorities at once. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) handles company law filings. The Income Tax Department and GST Council cover direct and indirect taxes. State governments enforce labour and professional tax laws. And if you're in a regulated industry, SEBI, RBI, or IRDAI pile on another layer. Business compliance here isn't one checklist -- it's several, running in parallel.
"An Indian SME operating in three or more states typically faces around 150 unique compliance events per year. Missing even 5% of those can result in cumulative penalties exceeding INR 10 lakh annually."
Corporate and MCA Compliance Checklist
Every company registered under the Companies Act, 2013 has to file with the Registrar of Companies (ROC). Operational or dormant, it doesn't matter. These filings aren't optional.
Annual Filings with ROC
- Form AOC-4 (Financial Statements): Must be filed within 30 days of the Annual General Meeting (AGM). Contains the balance sheet, profit and loss account, and auditor's report. Late filing penalty: INR 100 per day of delay per form.
- Form MGT-7 / MGT-7A (Annual Return): Due within 60 days of the AGM. MGT-7A is the simplified version for OPCs and small companies. Penalty: INR 100 per day of delay.
- Form ADT-1 (Auditor Appointment): Must be filed within 15 days of the AGM where the auditor is appointed or re-appointed.
- DIR-3 KYC (Director KYC): Every director holding a DIN must file by September 30 each year. Failure leads to DIN deactivation and a reactivation fee of INR 5,000. See our detailed DIR-3 KYC guide.
- Form DPT-3 (Return of Deposits): Annual return of deposits or transactions not considered deposits. Due by June 30 each year.
Event-Based ROC Filings
- Form INC-20A (Business Commencement): Must be filed within 180 days of incorporation for companies incorporated after November 2, 2018.
- Form PAS-3 (Return of Allotment): Filed within 15 days of share allotment.
- Form MGT-14 (Board/Shareholder Resolutions): Required within 30 days for specific resolutions under Section 117.
- Form DIR-12 (Director Changes): Filed within 30 days of appointment, resignation, or change in director details.
For a complete month-by-month breakdown, refer to our MCA Compliance Calendar 2025.
Key MCA Deadlines for FY 2025-26 (At a Glance)
September 30, 2025: DIR-3 KYC deadline for all directors. October 30, 2025: AOC-4 filing (assuming AGM held on September 30). November 29, 2025: MGT-7/MGT-7A annual return filing. July 31, 2025 and January 31, 2026: MSME-1 half-yearly returns. These dates assume AGM is held on the last permissible day. Filing earlier is always better.
Tax Compliance Checklist: GST, TDS, and Income Tax
Tax compliance runs on tight monthly and quarterly cycles. Miss one GST return and you can't claim Input Tax Credit (ITC). Miss a TDS deposit and interest starts accruing from day one.
GST Compliance
- GSTR-1 (Outward Supplies): Monthly by the 11th of the following month, or quarterly under QRMP scheme (13th of the month following the quarter).
- GSTR-3B (Summary Return): Monthly by the 20th of the following month. Staggered dates (22nd/24th) for taxpayers with turnover below INR 5 crore.
- GSTR-9 (Annual Return): Due by December 31 each year for taxpayers with turnover above INR 2 crore.
- GSTR-9C (Reconciliation Statement): Due by December 31 for taxpayers with turnover above INR 5 crore.
- Reverse Charge Mechanism (RCM): Self-invoicing and tax payment under RCM must be reported in GSTR-3B. Missed RCM payments attract interest at 18% per annum.
Our GST compliance checklist for startups covers the specifics for early-stage companies.
TDS/TCS Compliance
- TDS Deposit: By the 7th of the following month (for government deductors, same day for March deductions, April 30).
- TDS Return Filing: Quarterly returns using Forms 24Q (salary), 26Q (non-salary), 27Q (NRI payments), and 27EQ (TCS). Due dates: July 31, October 31, January 31, and May 31.
- TAN Registration: Any entity deducting tax at source must obtain a TAN before making the first deduction.
- Form 16/16A Issuance: Form 16 (salary TDS certificate) by June 15. Form 16A (non-salary) within 15 days of quarterly return filing.
Refer to our detailed TDS return filing guide for form-specific instructions.
Income Tax Compliance
- Advance Tax: Payable in four instalments: 15% by June 15, 45% by September 15, 75% by December 15, and 100% by March 15.
- ITR Filing: October 31 for companies requiring audit; July 31 for others. Belated return possible until December 31 with penalties.
- Tax Audit (Section 44AB): Report due by September 30 for entities whose turnover exceeds specified limits (INR 1 crore for business, INR 50 lakh for professionals).
- Transfer Pricing Report (Section 92E): Due by October 31 for companies with international or specified domestic transactions.
Labour and Employment Compliance
Labour compliance is where things get messy. It spans both central and state jurisdictions, and the four new Labour Codes (still not fully notified as of early 2025) will eventually consolidate 29 central laws. Until that happens, you're stuck with the existing framework.
Provident Fund (PF) and ESI
- PF Monthly Contribution: Due by the 15th of the following month via the EPFO unified portal. Employer and employee each contribute 12% of basic wages.
- PF Annual Return (Form 3A/6A): Now auto-generated through the unified portal based on monthly ECR filings.
- ESI Contribution: Due by the 15th of the following month. Applicable to establishments with 10+ employees where employee wages are up to INR 21,000/month.
- ESI Half-Yearly Return: Filed on the ESIC portal twice a year (April-September and October-March cycles).
Professional Tax (State-Specific)
Professional tax rates and filing frequencies vary wildly by state. Karnataka requires monthly payment by the 20th. Maharashtra mandates monthly payment by the last day of the month. Gujarat has its own slab structure entirely. The annual caps differ too: Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu cap at Rs. 2,500/year, Karnataka at Rs. 2,400/year.
Every single state. Different rules. If you're operating across multiple states, you need separate PT registrations, separate returns, and a centralized compliance calendar to keep track of it all.
Shops and Establishments Act
Every commercial establishment must register under the relevant state's Shops and Establishments Act, typically within 30 days of commencing business. You'll need to maintain registers of employees, working hours, and leave records, and display the registration certificate visibly. Most states now offer online registration and renewal, which helps.
Sector-Specific and Other Statutory Obligations
The items above apply to most businesses. But depending on your entity type, funding structure, or industry, you'll have additional obligations.
FEMA Compliance (For Companies with Foreign Investment)
- FC-GPR (Foreign Currency Gross Provisional Return): Filed with RBI within 30 days of share allotment to foreign investors.
- FC-TRS: Filed within 60 days of transfer of shares from resident to non-resident or vice versa.
- Annual Return on Foreign Liabilities and Assets (FLA): Due by July 15 each year for entities with foreign investment.
- External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) Return: Monthly reporting to RBI in Form ECB-2.
LLP Compliance
- Form 8 (Statement of Accounts): Due by October 30 each year.
- Form 11 (Annual Return): Due by May 30 each year.
- Income Tax Return: Due by July 31 (or October 31 if audit is required with turnover above INR 40 lakh or contribution above INR 25 lakh).
MSME Compliance
- Udyam Registration: Mandatory for MSMEs to access government schemes and benefits.
- MSME-1: Half-yearly return for companies with outstanding payments to MSME vendors beyond 45 days. Due by January 31 (for October-March period) and July 31 (for April-September period).
Penalty Snapshot: What Non-Compliance Actually Costs
ROC late filing: INR 100/day per form (AOC-4, MGT-7). GST late return: INR 50/day (INR 20/day for nil returns), capped at INR 10,000 per return. TDS late deposit: Interest at 1.5% per month from deduction date. PF late payment: Damages up to 100% of arrears under Section 14B of the EPF Act. DIR-3 KYC default: DIN deactivation + INR 5,000 reactivation fee. These are per-instance penalties that compound across entities and filings.
Building a Compliance Framework That Actually Works
A checklist is a starting point, not a system. The difference between companies with clean compliance records and those constantly firefighting notices? The former built a repeatable process around the checklist.
Step 1: Map All Applicable Compliances
Conduct a compliance mapping exercise based on your entity type (Private Limited, LLP, OPC), industry, number of states you operate in, number of employees, foreign investment status, and turnover thresholds. A company with foreign directors, employees in five states, and GST registration in multiple states will have a fundamentally different compliance profile than a single-state OPC.
Step 2: Assign Ownership and Set Up Alerts
Every obligation needs a named owner and a buffer deadline -- at least 5-7 days before the actual due date. Shared inboxes and verbal reminders don't count as systems. You need automated alerts that escalate to senior management when a deadline approaches without completion.
Step 3: Centralize Documentation
Keep all compliance certificates, filed returns, acknowledgement receipts, and board resolutions in one place. You'll thank yourself during audits, due diligence, or when responding to government notices. Our guide on preparing for investor due diligence explains why this matters so much.
Step 4: Review and Audit Quarterly
Conduct internal compliance audits at least quarterly. Compare your compliance calendar against actual filings, identify gaps, and remediate before they escalate into penalty notices. CA firms can significantly accelerate this process, as detailed in our article on how CA firms can save 15 hours per week.
How OneFinOps Helps
At its core, statutory compliance is a coordination problem. Right filings, right people, right time -- across every entity and jurisdiction you operate in.
The OneFinOps Compliance Hub pulls all of that into one dashboard. Automated deadline tracking, task assignment, document management, escalation workflows. No more juggling ROC spreadsheets, GST trackers, and TDS email threads separately.
The compliance calendar auto-populates based on your entity type, state registrations, and regulatory profile. Alerts fire well before deadlines. The platform tracks completion status in real time -- what's done, what's pending, what's at risk. Your CFO or compliance head can see the full picture without chasing anyone.
If you're managing multiple entities or operating across states, this kills the gaps that emerge when obligations live in silos.
Wrapping Up
Statutory compliance in India isn't getting simpler. The MCA is tightening enforcement, GST systems are getting more automated, and state governments are digitizing labour compliance. The expectation now is real-time compliance, not annual clean-ups.
Use this checklist as your starting point, but build a system around it -- whether manual or platform-assisted -- that keeps you current throughout the year. Staying compliant is always cheaper than fixing things after a notice lands on your desk.
For a month-by-month breakdown of every major deadline, see our complete annual compliance calendar for Indian businesses. Or explore the Compliance Hub to see how it works in practice.