August tends to be one of the heavier compliance months on the calendar, largely because two very different deadlines collide in the same fortnight: the annual income-tax return season winding down on 31 August, and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs' one-time filing relief window also closing on 31 August. Add the routine monthly GST, TDS, PF/ESI and FEMA filings sitting on top, and finance teams end up managing a genuinely crowded calendar rather than a handful of scattered dates.

This calendar pulls together the due dates applicable for August 2026 across GST, Income-tax, the Companies Act 2013, FEMA, SEBI (LODR) and the ESI/PF regime, arranged law-wise for quick reference. We have also flagged a few additional deadlines — Equalisation Levy and state Professional Tax — that frequently get missed because they don't appear on standard compliance trackers. As always, treat this as a working reference and confirm applicability with your tax or company secretarial team before acting, since specific facts (turnover slabs, audit applicability, state of registration) can change what applies to a given entity.

A. GST Compliance Calendar

B. ESI and Provident Fund

C. FEMA Reporting

D. SEBI (LODR) Compliance

E. Income-tax Due Dates

TDS/TCS deposits, statutory certificates and forms:

Return filing, self-assessment tax and allied statutory forms tied to the 31 August ITR deadline (Assessment Year 2026-27) — this covers non-audit-case businesses/professions, working partners of non-audit firms (and their spouses under Sec. 5A) where Sec. 92E does not apply, along with the accompanying declarations, certificates and statements listed below:

F. Companies Act, 2013 — Annual Filings

Important — these are not the routine annual due dates. The forms below (AOC-4, MGT-7/MGT-7A, ADT-1, FC-3, FC-4) apply only to PENDING/OVERDUE filings relating to financial years ending on or before 31 March 2025 (i.e., FY 2024-25 and all earlier years). These are being cleared under the one-time MCA Companies Compliance Facilitation Scheme, 2026 (CCFS-2026), which closes on 31 August 2026 with the fee relief described in Section H below. The regular AOC-4/MGT-7 due dates for FY 2025-26 (year ending 31 March 2026) are separate — typically around 30 days after the AGM, expected in October/November 2026 — and are NOT covered by this 31 August date.

G. Additional Deadlines Worth Tracking in August 2026

A few obligations that don't always make it onto a standard compliance calendar but fall due within the month:

●        Correction: Equalisation Levy — not applicable. The Equalisation Levy has been fully discontinued and there is no such deposit due in August 2026. The 2% levy on e-commerce supply/services ended for consideration received on or after 1 August 2024, and the 6% levy on online advertisement payments was withdrawn with effect from 1 April 2025 (Finance Act, 2025 amendments). No Equalisation Levy compliance survives for AY 2026-27 onward.

●        State Professional Tax — monthly PT deducted from salaries in July 2026 is generally payable in the second half of August, though the exact date depends on the state; Maharashtra, Karnataka, West Bengal and Telangana each prescribe their own schedules, so confirm against the relevant state PT Act before remitting.

●        Quarterly TDS/TCS statement preparation for Q2 FY 2026-27 (July-September) should ideally begin internally in August, even though the filing itself falls due in October, so that reconciliation isn't compressed into the last week.

●        Entities that missed the DPT-3 (Return of Deposits) deadline of 30 June 2026 should treat August as the point to close out that backlog before it compounds with the September AGM season.

H. MCA Companies Compliance Facilitation Scheme, 2026

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs' one-time relief scheme (CCFS-2026) for pending annual filings came into force on 15 April 2026. It was originally scheduled to close on 15 July 2026 but was extended to 31 August 2026 by MCA General Circular No. 03/2026 dated 8 July 2026, following data-centre restoration work after a fire incident on 5 June 2026. Its 31 August closing date happens to coincide with the ITR filing deadline for non-audit cases (Section E) but is a scheme deadline, not a routine annual due date. Its key features:

●        A flat 10% additional fee applies to delayed annual filing forms, instead of the regular escalating late-fee structure.

●        Companies seeking dormant status can file Form MSC-1 at half the normal prescribed fee.

●        Applications for striking off via Form STK-2 attract only 25% of the applicable fee.

Because the scheme window and the routine 31 August due dates close together, companies carrying pending annual filings for FY 2024-25 or any earlier year have a narrow but genuine opportunity to clear the backlog at reduced cost — but only if the filing is actually submitted before midnight on 31 August.

I. Points Worth Planning Around

●        31 August is the single busiest date on this calendar — ITR filings, Companies Act annual forms and the MCA scheme deadline all converge there. Where possible, complete data reconciliation and internal sign-offs well before the last week to avoid portal congestion.

●        15 August and 30 August fall on a Saturday and Sunday respectively this year. Government portals do not automatically extend statutory due dates for weekends, so confirm on the relevant portal (GSTN, EPFO, ESIC, or the Income-tax e-filing site) rather than assuming a shift to the next working day.

●        For any compliance dependent on the ITR due date (several of the Income-tax forms above apply only 'if the due date of return is 31 August 2026'), first confirm whether that assessee's ITR due date has itself been extended before relying on the linked form deadline.

Disclaimer

This calendar has been compiled by the TaxFlash Editorial Team for general information purposes and reflects due dates as understood to be in force at the time of publication. Statutory due dates are subject to extension, deferral or modification by the concerned authorities (CBDT, CBIC, MCA, RBI, SEBI, EPFO and ESIC), and applicability varies by entity, turnover, audit status and state of registration. This article does not constitute tax, legal or professional advice and should not be acted upon without confirming current applicability with your tax advisor, company secretary or the relevant government portal.