Advance Tax Due Dates for FY 2026-27

Who Must Pay Advance Tax

Any taxpayer — individual, freelancer, or business — whose estimated total tax liability for the year exceeds ₹10,000 after TDS/TCS credit must pay advance tax in installments through the year, rather than as a single payment at filing time. Senior citizens (60+) without business income are exempt from this requirement.

Installment Schedule (Regular Taxpayers)

Due date	Cumulative advance tax payable
15 June	15% of estimated tax liability
15 September	45% of estimated tax liability
15 December	75% of estimated tax liability
15 March	100% of estimated tax liability

Each installment is cumulative — you're topping up to the stated percentage of your total estimated liability for the year, not paying a flat 15%/30%/30%/25% split.

Presumptive Taxation Taxpayers (Sections 44AD / 44ADA)

Taxpayers opting for presumptive taxation on business or professional income can skip the four-installment schedule and pay 100% of their estimated tax liability in a single installment by 15 March.

Interest for Shortfall or Delay

Section	Applies when	Interest
234B	Total advance tax paid is less than 90% of assessed tax	1% per month from 1 April of the assessment year until payment
234C	Any individual installment is short of the required cumulative percentage	1% per month for the shortfall on that installment (3 months for June/Sept/Dec shortfalls, 1 month for the March shortfall)

234C has a built-in tolerance: if you've paid at least 12% by 15 June and 36% by 15 September of the eventual tax due, no 234C interest applies for those two installments even if it's below the 15%/45% target — useful for income that's genuinely hard to estimate early in the year (like variable freelance income or capital gains).

Estimating Your Liability Through the Year

Advance tax is paid on estimated annual income, which is harder for freelancers, businesses, and anyone with variable income (bonuses, capital gains, rental escalations) than for a salaried employee with predictable monthly pay. Re-estimating before each installment — rather than setting one number in June and not revisiting it — is what keeps 234C interest from compounding as the year's actual income profile becomes clearer.

If estimating quarterly liability accurately feels like guesswork, our CA team can project your advance tax installments based on your actual income pattern and update the estimate each quarter, so you're not paying 234C interest for numbers you couldn't have known in June.