Form 27Q in New Income Tax Act 2025: Form 144 TY 2026-27 Guide

Last reviewed: 25 August 2026.

Answer first: For Tax Year 2026-27, the Income Tax Department uses Form 144 for the quarterly TDS statement on specified non-salary payments to non-residents. It is the current form corresponding to the earlier Form 27Q. The Department's live user manual confirms filing through the updated RPU/FVU process and the e-Filing portal using TAN credentials.

Form 27Q vs Form 144: old-to-new mapping

Who needs to file Form 144?

The Income Tax Department's user manual describes Form 144 as the quarterly statement for persons deducting tax at source on payments other than salary made to non-residents. This can include companies, firms, government bodies and other deductors that make taxable non-salary payments to non-residents and deduct TDS.

Typical transactions can include interest, royalty, fees for technical services, professional/business payments or other sums chargeable to tax, depending on the facts and applicable provision. The nature of payment must be identified correctly before selecting the TDS treatment.

Form 144 is not the same as Form 15CA/15CB

This distinction is important in foreign-remittance work. Form 144 is a quarterly TDS statement. Form 15CA/15CB is a separate remittance-reporting/certification framework. A transaction may require analysis under both systems, but one does not automatically replace the other.

Prerequisites before filing

The live Income Tax Department Form 144 user manual lists the following key prerequisites:

• Valid TAN registered on the e-Filing portal.
• Latest applicable Return Preparation Utility (RPU).
• Valid FVU file generated from the RPU.
• Registered DSC where the chosen verification method requires it.

Critical control: Use the current RPU/FVU version. The Department specifically identifies version mismatch as a possible rejection reason.

Information to reconcile before preparing Form 144

Step-by-step Form 144 filing workflow

1. Download the latest RPU. The Department's current manual routes users through the Protean e-TDS/TCS quarterly-return download area.
2. Prepare the statement. Enter deductor, deductee, payment, TDS and challan details.
3. Validate through FVU. Generate the valid FVU file and the required ZIP for upload.
4. Login using TAN. Use the deductor's e-Filing credentials.
5. Open Income Tax Forms. Go to the TDS/TCS forms under the Income Tax Act, 2025 category.
6. Select Form 144. Choose Tax Year, quarter and upload type—regular or correction.
7. Upload the ZIP/FVU file. Confirm the utility/FVU version matches the portal requirement.
8. E-verify. Complete the permitted verification method.
9. Track processing. The form can remain under processing before acceptance/rejection communication is issued.

Regular statement vs correction statement

A regular filing is the first statement for the quarter. A correction statement is used to rectify a filed statement. Do not interchange regular and correction files: the Department lists uploading the wrong type as a rejection reason.

For correction statements, ensure that the relevant RRR/reference number in the file matches the number entered on the filing screen.

Common rejection reasons identified by the Department

Worked examples

Example 1: royalty payment to foreign company

An Indian company pays royalty to a non-resident company and deducts tax after evaluating domestic law and treaty provisions. The payment and TDS details should be captured in the relevant quarter's Form 144, while remittance-documentation obligations must be analysed separately.

Example 2: technical service fee with treaty rate

If a treaty benefit is claimed, the finance team should retain the residency/treaty support before using the reduced rate. Form 144 should reflect the actual tax deducted and the transaction classification used in the TDS file.

Example 3: wrong country code discovered after filing

If the original statement has already been accepted and a material deductee detail is wrong, evaluate and prepare the appropriate correction statement rather than attempting a second regular filing for the quarter.

Example 4: payment booked in March, TDS paid later

Quarter allocation and reporting should follow the applicable TDS timing and statement rules. Reconcile the March ledger, year-end accruals and challan mapping carefully before Q4 filing.

Accounting and ERP controls

• Create a mandatory resident/non-resident flag in vendor master.
• Maintain country and PAN/identification fields.
• Map payment nature to the applicable TDS section/rate master.
• Track treaty documentation expiry/current status.
• Link every TDS line to the challan allocation.
• Maintain a separate foreign-remittance compliance field for Form 15CA/15CB analysis.
• Lock quarter data only after Form 144 reconciliation is complete.

Quarter-end checklist

• Reconcile non-resident vendor ledger to TDS register.
• Check all credit/payment entries for TDS timing.
• Review lower/nil certificate limits used.
• Verify treaty documents for reduced rates.
• Match challan totals to deductee allocation.
• Review PAN/identification and country fields.
• Confirm latest RPU/FVU versions.
• Validate regular vs correction status.
• Save upload acknowledgement.
• Track acceptance/rejection communication.

Risk matrix

Frequently asked questions

Official references

• Income Tax Department — Form 27Q / Form 144
• Income Tax Department — Form 144 User Manual

Last reviewed: 25 August 2026.

Case law: No case-law table is included because this article is a procedural filing guide and the current operational requirements are directly stated in the Department's Form 144 user manual.