Advance tax due dates for 2026-27 and who must pay

Advance tax means paying your income tax during the year, as you earn, instead of in one go when you file the return. You must pay it if your tax for the year, after subtracting TDS and TCS, is ₹10,000 or more (Section 404 of the Income-tax Act, 2025, earlier Section 208).

Most employees with only salary never cross this, because the employer deducts tax every month. You are likely to owe advance tax if you also have interest, rent, capital gains, freelance or consulting fees, or a business, where little or no tax is deducted at source.

A resident senior citizen (aged 60 or more) who has no income from business or profession does not have to pay advance tax at all, and can pay the whole tax as self-assessment tax before filing. A retired person with ₹15 lakh of pension and interest would owe ₹1,09,200 of tax for the year, but no advance tax.

Advance tax is paid in four instalments, each a cumulative share of your estimated tax for the year. The dates are set by Sections 403 to 408 (earlier 207 to 211).

The last column is a small cushion: if by 15 June 2026 you have paid at least 12%, or by 15 September 2026 at least 36%, no interest is charged for that instalment even though you are short of the full 15% or 45%. There is no such cushion for the last two dates.

Take a salaried person on ₹15 lakh in the new regime who also earns ₹4 lakh a year from fixed deposit interest and freelance work, with no tax deducted on it. Their total tax for the year is ₹1,71,600. The employer deducts ₹97,500 as TDS on salary, which leaves ₹74,100 to pay as advance tax.

• Paying each instalment on time costs ₹0 in interest.
• Paying nothing until the return is filed adds about ₹6,702: ₹3,738 for missed instalments and ₹2,964 for falling short at the year end, assuming the balance is paid by 31 July.
• An easier route for an employee is to ask the employer to deduct more TDS by declaring the other income. That counts towards the same tax and can remove the need for advance tax.

If you declare business or professional income on a presumptive basis (Section 58 of the 2025 Act, earlier Sections 44AD and 44ADA), you need not follow the four-instalment schedule. The whole advance tax for the year is due in a single instalment by 15 March 2027.

A consultant declaring ₹15 lakh of presumptive income and ₹1 lakh of interest would owe ₹1,24,800 in one payment by 15 March 2027. If it is not paid in time, interest of about ₹6,240 would build up by the end of July.

Two kinds of interest apply, both at 1% a month on the unpaid amount, rounded down to the nearest hundred rupees:

• For deferring an instalment (Section 425): charged on the shortfall at each due date, for 3 months on each of the first three instalments and 1 month on the last.
• For paying too little in the year (Section 424): if the advance tax you paid is less than 90% of the tax due, interest runs from April after the year ends until you pay. The figures above assume 4 months, with the balance paid by the end of July.

Interest = unpaid amount (rounded down to ₹100) × 1% × number of months

1. Estimate your income for the full year, including interest, rent, capital gains and side income, and work out the tax under your chosen regime.
2. Subtract the TDS and TCS you expect for the year. If the balance is below the threshold, no advance tax is needed.
3. Pay the cumulative share due by each date through the e-Pay Tax service on the Income Tax e-filing portal, choosing advance tax as the payment type and the correct tax year.
4. Revise the estimate before each instalment if your income changes, and pay the difference in the next one.
5. Keep the challan details. Check that the payments appear in your annual tax statement before you file the return.