Why this list exists
We run compliance in six jurisdictions, and the pattern of what goes wrong is remarkably consistent. It is almost never a technical failure. Nobody misses a VAT return because the reverse-charge rules are hard; they miss it because the quarter ended and no single person was accountable for the date.
Multi-country businesses are especially exposed, because each jurisdiction's calendar was designed without reference to the others. The UK self-assessment peak lands in the same fortnight as US W-2 and 1099 issuance. Australia's Q2 BAS falls at the end of February, while Canada is producing T4 slips. India files something almost every month regardless.
So here is the whole thing in one place. Bookmark it, or take the dates that apply to you and put a name against each one.
United States
The US calendar is dominated by two peaks - the March partnership and S-corporation deadline, and the April individual and C-corporation deadline - with quarterly payroll returns underneath.
- 31 January - W-2 and 1099-NEC to recipients and the IRS; Q4 Form 941.
- 15 March - Forms 1065 and 1120-S for calendar-year filers.
- 15 April - Forms 1040 and 1120; Q1 estimated tax.
- 15 September / 15 October - extended returns.
The date most commonly missed is not on this list, because it is not a date: economic nexus. Sales tax registration obligations trigger on a revenue or transaction threshold, in each state separately, at whatever point in the year you happen to cross it. See the economic nexus article for why that matters more than most businesses assume.
Full detail: US services and calendar.
United Kingdom
The UK runs on a quarterly VAT beat under Making Tax Digital, monthly RTI payroll submissions, and a January self-assessment peak.
- On or before each payday - RTI Full Payment Submission.
- One month and seven days after each VAT quarter - VAT return and payment.
- 31 January - self-assessment filing, balancing payment and first payment on account.
- 31 May - P60s. 6 July - P11D benefits in kind.
- Nine months after year end - Companies House accounts, and the corporation tax payment. The CT600 return itself is not due until twelve months.
That last split catches people every year: the money is due three months before the return. Full detail: UK services and calendar.
Canada
Canada layers provincial obligations over federal ones, and separates the corporate tax payment from the corporate tax return in the same way the UK does.
- 15th of each month - payroll source deduction remittance for regular remitters.
- Last day of February - T4 and T5 slips.
- 30 April - T1 filing and balance due (self-employed file by 15 June but still pay by 30 April).
- Two or three months after year end - corporate tax balance due.
- Six months after year end - T2 return.
Full detail: Canada services and calendar.
Australia
The cleanest calendar of the six, and the easiest to run well - provided GST is coded to the BAS period at entry rather than sorted out at lodgement.
- 28 October, 28 February, 28 April, 28 July - quarterly BAS and superannuation guarantee.
- On or before each payday - Single Touch Payroll.
- 15 May - company, trust and partnership returns lodged through a registered tax agent.
Note the superannuation dates share the BAS dates. Late super is not merely a penalty - unpaid guarantee amounts cease to be deductible, which makes it one of the more expensive deadlines to miss anywhere on this page. Full detail: Australia services and calendar.
United Arab Emirates
The newest regime, and the one where businesses most often have no calendar at all because until recently there was nothing to put on it.
- Within 28 days of each tax period end - VAT return and payment.
- Within nine months of the tax period end - Corporate Tax return and payment.
- Monthly - Wage Protection System salary file.
The nine-month Corporate Tax window sounds generous and is not, because the work that has to happen inside it is not the return - it is producing IFRS-standard financial statements and a documented free-zone position from books that were never built to support either. See the free-zone article. Full detail: UAE services and calendar.
India
The densest calendar of the six, with something due most months of the year.
- 7th of each month - TDS and TCS deposit.
- 11th and 20th of each month - GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B.
- 15 June, 15 September, 15 December, 15 March - advance tax instalments.
- 31 July, 31 October, 31 January, 31 May - quarterly TDS returns.
- 31 July / 31 October / 30 November - income tax return, depending on whether audit and transfer pricing apply.
- 31 December - GSTR-9 and GSTR-9C for the prior financial year.
Full detail: India services and calendar.
Where the calendars collide
If you operate in more than one of these, three collision points are worth planning around specifically:
- Late January - UK self-assessment, US W-2 and 1099 issuance, Indian quarterly TDS and the Canadian T4 run-up all land within about three weeks of each other.
- Late February - Australian Q2 BAS and Canadian T4/T5 slips, while the US is heading into the March partnership deadline.
- Financial year ends - a UK or Indian 31 March year end, an Australian 30 June year end and a US or UAE 31 December year end in the same group means three separate close processes, and consolidation dates that are genuinely awkward rather than merely inconvenient.
None of that is a reason to avoid operating across borders. It is a reason to have one team that can see all of it at once, rather than four providers who each see a quarter of the picture.
Read this before you rely on it
Every date above is the standard recurring deadline and assumes a calendar or standard financial year. They move for weekends and public holidays, for non-standard year ends, for different filing frequencies, and for extensions. Tax authorities also change them - India in particular extends deadlines often enough that the published date should be treated as a planning date rather than a promise.
Use this as a map, not as a filing schedule. If you want your own dates confirmed against your actual entities and year ends, that is a twenty-minute conversation and we do not charge for it.