Advance Tax in India: Due Dates, Calculation and How to Pay

If your total income tax for the year, after subtracting TDS and TCS, comes to Rs 10,000 or more, you must pay it in advance during the year itself, not in one lump sum at filing time. You pay in four instalments by 15 June, 15 September, 15 December and 15 March. Advance tax applies under both the old and the new tax regime, because it is not a deduction. Your liability is simply computed on whichever regime you are in, and the new regime is now the default.

This guide covers who must pay advance tax, the exact due dates and percentages, how to work out the amount, how to pay it online through the income tax portal, and the interest you owe under sections 234B and 234C if you fall short. The figures here are for FY 2025-26 (Assessment Year 2026-27) and are based on the Income-tax Act, 1961.

A reader from Pune wrote in last year, upset by a tax notice. He was a freelance designer who earned well, but his clients did not always deduct TDS. He had assumed he could just pay everything in July when he filed his return. Instead, he found himself paying extra interest under sections 234B and 234C on top of his actual tax. His mistake was simple: nobody had told him that the law expects you to pay as you earn, in four instalments through the year. This article is the explanation I wish he had received in April.

The rule sits in Section 208 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, which says advance tax is payable “in every case where the amount of such tax payable by the assessee during that year … is ten thousand rupees or more”. So the test is your net tax liability for the year after reducing the TDS and TCS already collected. If that net figure is Rs 10,000 or more, you owe advance tax.

This catches more people than you might think: freelancers, consultants, traders, landlords with rental income, anyone with large capital gains, and salaried people who have big interest or dividend income that their employer's TDS does not cover.

There is one important exemption. Section 207 says advance tax does not apply to a resident individual who “does not have any income chargeable under the head Profits and gains of business or profession” and is “of the age of sixty years or more”. In plain words: a resident senior citizen aged 60 or above with no business or professional income does not have to pay advance tax at all. They can clear their dues as self-assessment tax when they file.

Section 211 sets out four due dates for most taxpayers. Each figure is cumulative, meaning it is the total you should have paid by that date, not a fresh slice:

1. On or before 15 June: at least 15 per cent of your advance tax.
2. On or before 15 September: at least 45 per cent (reduced by what you paid earlier).
3. On or before 15 December: at least 75 per cent (reduced by earlier payments).
4. On or before 15 March: 100 per cent, the whole amount.

The statute uses the words “not less than fifteen per cent”, “forty-five per cent”, “seventy-five per cent” and “the whole amount” in its table, each “as reduced by the amount … paid in the earlier instalment”.

A simpler route for presumptive taxpayers. If you declare income under the presumptive scheme of Section 44AD (small businesses) or Section 44ADA (professionals), Section 211 lets you pay the whole of your advance tax in a single instalment on or before 15 March. You do not have to manage four separate dates.

The calculation is an honest estimate, made under Section 209. Work through it in five steps:

1. Estimate your total income for the full financial year across all heads: salary, business or profession, capital gains, house property and other sources.
2. Pick your regime. The new regime is the default. If the old regime suits you better, you compute on that instead. Either way, advance tax is worked out on the regime you are in, since it is not a deduction.
3. Apply the slab rates in force for FY 2025-26 to arrive at your gross tax, then add the health and education cess.
4. Subtract TDS and TCS that has been or will be deducted or collected at source during the year. Section 209 specifically reduces the tax by the amount “deductible or collectible at source”.
5. If the result is Rs 10,000 or more, that is your advance tax. Split it across the four due dates using the 15, 45, 75 and 100 per cent steps above.

Because the figure is an estimate, you revise it each quarter as your real income becomes clearer, and top up the next instalment to match the cumulative target.

You pay through the e-Pay Tax service on the income tax portal. This replaced the older Challan 280 / ITNS 280 route. The steps are:

1. Go to incometax.gov.in and open e-Pay Tax (you can do this before logging in or after).
2. Enter your PAN and mobile number, and verify the 6-digit OTP sent to your phone.
3. Choose the assessment year (for FY 2025-26 this is AY 2026-27) and select Advance Tax (100) as the type of payment.
4. Enter the tax amount and pick a payment mode.
5. Pay and download the challan as proof. Keep it safe; you will need the details when you file your return.

The income tax portal lists five payment modes under e-Pay Tax: Net Banking of authorised banks, Debit Card of authorised banks, Pay at Bank Counter by cash, cheque or demand draft, NEFT/RTGS from any bank using a generated mandate form, and a Payment Gateway that also accepts credit card and UPI.

Two separate interest charges bite if you do not keep up.

Section 234B charges interest when you have either paid no advance tax at all, or paid less than 90 per cent of your assessed tax. The Act sets “simple interest at the rate of one per cent for every month or part of a month” from 1 April of the assessment year until you pay. So a part of a month counts as a full month.

Section 234C charges interest for deferment, that is, for missing an individual instalment deadline. It is also 1 per cent per month. The way it bites: if you fall short of the 15, 45 or 75 per cent targets at the June, September or December dates, you pay 1 per cent per month for three months on each shortfall; if you fall short of 100 per cent at the March date, you pay 1 per cent for one month on that shortfall. The Act gives a small cushion: no 234C interest at the June or September date if you have paid at least 12 per cent or 36 per cent respectively by then.

The lesson the Pune reader learned the hard way: paying advance tax on time is almost always cheaper than paying interest later.

The Income-tax Act, 2025 takes effect from 1 April 2026 and governs FY 2026-27 onward. It does not change the return you file for FY 2025-26, which is still governed by the 1961 Act sections quoted above. The advance tax framework carries forward in substance, but always check the current due dates each year before you pay.

Usually their employer's TDS covers their salary tax, so they do not. But if you have other income, such as large interest, capital gains or rental income, on which the net tax works out to Rs 10,000 or more, you must pay advance tax on that part.

You are not penalised at filing if you catch up by the next date and meet the cumulative target, but you may owe Section 234C interest of 1 per cent per month on the shortfall. The cushion under 234C means there is no interest at the June date if you have already paid at least 12 per cent of your advance tax.

A resident individual aged 60 or above with no income from business or profession is exempt under Section 207. Senior citizens who do run a business or profession are not exempt and must pay like everyone else.

No. Advance tax is not a deduction, so it applies under both regimes. Your liability is simply computed on whichever regime you are in. The new regime is the default; if you opt for the old regime, you compute on that instead.

Use the NEFT/RTGS option in e-Pay Tax. The portal generates a mandate form you take to your own bank, even if it is not on the authorised list, and the payment is routed through.

If you found this useful, the broader playbook on dealing with government systems is here: The RTI Playbook. For more citizen guides on tax, schemes and your rights, start at the RightToInformation.wiki homepage.

The single best habit is to put the four dates (15 June, 15 September, 15 December, 15 March) in your calendar in April, estimate your tax once, and pay as you go. It keeps you clear of sections 234B and 234C, and it turns a stressful July into a quiet one.

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• Interest under Section 234A, 234B and 234C
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• TCS on car purchase above Rs 10 lakh