Your payroll checklist for October 2026

October’s payroll carries more change than usual. The PF wage ceiling rose in the middle of September, the four Labour Codes have been in force since 21 November 2025, and this is the first tax year under the Income-tax Act 2025, with new form names.

Use this list before you approve October’s run. Each section links to a fuller explanation in our compliance hub. It’s a checklist, not legal advice: where your state’s rules or your own contracts differ, check with your CA or labour consultant.

1. The PF wage ceiling of ₹25,000

The EPF wage ceiling went from ₹15,000 to ₹25,000 a month from 17 September 2026 (S.O. 5109(E)). Full detail: PF wage ceiling of ₹25,000.

• Your payroll tool uses ₹25,000 from 17 September, not from 1 October. Check its setting; many tools still default to ₹15,000.
• September is split by days. 1 to 16 September at the old ceiling, 17 to 30 September at the new one. EPFO’s FAQ has worked examples; compare one of your own payslips against them.
• New members are enrolled. People earning more than ₹15,000 but not more than ₹25,000 who weren’t PF members must join from 17 September. Make a list, and collect any missing UANs before you file the ECR.
• September’s shortfall is worked out. If September (or October) was already run on the old ceiling, work out the employee and employer shares that were short, and agree with your CA how and when to pay them.
• The employer’s split is right. Check how your tool divides the employer’s contribution between EPS and EPF at the new ceiling, against EPFO’s examples.
• People already contributing above the ceiling on a joint option carry on as before.
• Your budget reflects it. Employer PF cost goes up for everyone between ₹15,000 and ₹25,000.

2. The Labour Codes

The Code on Wages, the Social Security Code, the Industrial Relations Code and the OSH Code have applied since 21 November 2025. The central rules followed in May 2026, and states are still finishing theirs. Full detail: The Labour Codes.

• The 50% wage rule is in your salary structures. If allowances and other excluded items come to more than half of total pay, the excess is added back to “wages”. That changes PF, gratuity and other figures worked out on wages. Test your common structures, not just one.
• Deductions stay within half of wages. Loans, advances and recoveries in a month are capped at 50% of that month’s wages. Carry the rest forward.
• Leavers are paid within two working days of their last day. A leaver can’t wait for the next monthly run.
• Fixed-term staff get gratuity after one year of service, on Code wages.
• Earned leave follows the Codes: one day for every 20 days worked, once 180 days are worked in the year.
• Overtime is counted against the weekly limit, with rest-day work paid as overtime or given back as comp-off.
• Bonus eligibility uses ₹21,000 a month (notified on 25 August 2026). Check who qualifies before any festival payout.
• Your state’s rules are checked. Where a state hasn’t finalised its rules, its old rules carry on as far as they fit. Note which states you employ people in and which rules apply.

3. Tax: Form 130 and Form 138

This is tax year 2026-27, the first under the Income-tax Act 2025. The forms have new numbers. Full detail: Form 130 and Form 138.

• The second-quarter salary TDS statement is due by 31 October: Form 138 (was Form 24Q), for July to September, in Protean’s file layout.
• TDS for the rest of the year is re-checked after any salary change, PF change or late declaration, so March doesn’t carry a big catch-up.
• Everyone has chosen a regime, and those on the old regime have declared rent, deductions and home-loan interest. Ask for proofs well before January.
• Perquisites are valued for Form 123 (was Form 12BA).
• People know the new names. Their year-end certificate is Form 130 (was Form 16). Tell them before they go looking for “Form 16” in May.

4. Before you approve

• Compare this month with last month, person by person, and explain every change over a threshold you set.
• Check new joiners and leavers against HR’s records for the month.
• Run one payslip by hand, start to finish, for a person between ₹15,000 and ₹25,000 who had a back-dated change. If that one is right, most of the rest will be.

Our free calculators can help with the arithmetic for a single person.

Where Dexta fits

Dexta Pay already applies the ₹25,000 ceiling from 17 September 2026, splits September by days, and works out past shortfalls for payroll to confirm. It applies the Labour Codes’ 50% wage rule and the 50% cap on deductions, pays leavers on their own run, and gives employees Form 130 Part C and Form 123 from the same records. If you’d like to see your own October in it, book a demo.