Advance tax due dates FY 2026-27

For FY 2026-27, advance tax is payable in four instalments: 15% by 15 June 2026, 45% by 15 September 2026, 75% by 15 December 2026 and 100% by 15 March 2027. It applies under Section 208 when net tax liability after TDS is Rs.10,000 or more. Presumptive taxpayers pay 100% by 15 March.

The instalment schedule

Each figure is cumulative; the instalment for a quarter is the cumulative target less what has already been paid. Compute instantly with the Advance Tax Calculator.

Who must pay and who is exempt

Advance tax applies under Section 208 where estimated tax liability, after reducing TDS/TCS, is Rs.10,000 or more. Resident senior citizens (60+) with no business or professional income are exempt under Section 207(2). Presumptive taxpayers under 44AD/44ADA pay the entire amount in one instalment by 15 March.

Interest for shortfall

Falling short triggers interest: Section 234C (1% per month) for deferment of each instalment, and Section 234B (1% per month) where advance tax paid is below 90% of assessed tax. Use the 234A/B/C Calculator to quantify the cost of a delay.

Practical tips

• Estimate income early and revise each quarter as actuals firm up.
• Factor in capital gains and dividend income, which can disrupt instalments (234C has limited relief for these).
• Pay via challan ITNS 280 / e-pay tax; keep the BSR code and challan number.
• Decide your regime before computing instalments.

Worked example: instalment planning on Rs.8 lakh liability

A consultant estimates FY 2026-27 tax (after TDS) of Rs.8,00,000. The instalment ladder is:

If they pay only Rs.1,00,000 by 15 June (shortfall Rs.20,000 against the 15% mark), Section 234C interest is 20,000 × 1% × 3 months = Rs.600. Small per instalment — but across four instalments and a full year, 234C plus 234B routinely adds 4-6% to the true cost of under-estimation.

The 12%/36% safe harbours in 234C

No 234C interest is charged for the June instalment if you have paid at least 12% of the total liability, and none for September if you have paid at least 36%. This gives genuine estimation room in the first half of the year. There is also no 234C exposure on income that is impossible to estimate — capital gains, dividend income, and winnings — provided the tax on such income is paid in the remaining instalments after it arises (or by 31 March if it arises after 15 March).

Presumptive taxpayers: one instalment

Taxpayers under Section 44AD or 44ADA (renumbered Sections 58 and 59 under the Income-tax Act 2025) pay the entire advance tax in a single instalment by 15 March. Interest under 234C applies only if that single payment falls short.

Quarterly estimation workflow for finance teams

• May: build the base estimate from the prior-year computation, adjusted for known changes (rate changes, one-off gains, capacity additions).
• Before each instalment: re-run the estimate against actual TDS credits in Form 26AS/AIS — TDS you can substantiate reduces the advance-tax base.
• December: true-up for the first three quarters of actuals; this is the instalment where most under-payments should be corrected because December catch-up limits 234C to one quarter of exposure.
• March: pay by the 15th, but remember tax paid till 31 March counts as advance tax for 234B purposes — a late-March top-up still avoids 234B if it takes you to 90% of assessed tax.

Section 234B (renumbered 433) applies at 1% per month from 1 April where total advance tax paid is below 90% of the assessed liability. Verify challan credit under the minor head 100 (advance tax) at incometax.gov.in after each payment.

Advance tax on capital gains and one-off income

The proviso to Section 234C protects income that cannot be estimated in advance. If you sell a property in January 2027, tax on that gain enters only the 15 March instalment — no interest arises for the June/September/December instalments even though, with hindsight, they were "short". The same protection covers dividend income and lottery/online-gaming winnings. What the proviso does not protect is recurring income you simply under-estimated — consulting revenue that grew, interest income you ignored, or rental step-ups already contracted.

For companies, the estimation exercise should also account for MAT/book-profit interactions where applicable, and TDS credits that will actually appear in 26AS by year-end rather than invoiced-but-undeducted amounts. A common year-end failure: customers deduct TDS in March but deposit it in April, and the credit lands in the following year's 26AS — reconcile deducted-versus-deposited before relying on the credit for the March instalment.

• Senior citizens (60+) with no business income are fully exempt from advance tax under Section 207 — pay everything as self-assessment tax without 234B/234C exposure.
• Non-residents with only TDS-covered income (rates that fully cover the liability) have no advance-tax obligation; a shortfall arises only where DTAA-rate income is under-withheld.
• Challan correction: an advance-tax payment booked under the wrong minor head (300 self-assessment instead of 100 advance) can be corrected through the bank within 7 days or via the AO thereafter — fix it before filing to avoid a false 234B/234C computation by CPC.