An advance tax calculator removes the guesswork from paying income tax in instalments. Instead of scrambling for a lump sum in March, you estimate your annual tax liability and pay it in four quarterly instalments. If your estimated tax after TDS and TCS crosses ₹10,000, the law expects you to pay as you earn. Miss a deadline, and interest under Sections 234B and 234C starts accruing. This guide walks through who needs to pay, the exact due dates for FY 2026-27, how to calculate each instalment, and the mistakes that trigger avoidable interest.
Advance tax is income tax paid during the financial year in which the income is earned, rather than at the end when you file your return. The system exists because the government wants tax revenue to flow throughout the year, not in a single burst after March. For taxpayers, it breaks a large liability into smaller, manageable payments.
The concept is straightforward, but the execution is where people slip. You must estimate your total income for the year — salary, business profit, rent, interest, dividends, capital gains — subtract eligible deductions and rebate, calculate tax under your chosen regime, add cess and surcharge where applicable, and then subtract TDS and TCS already deducted or collectible. The remaining amount is your advance tax liability, payable in four instalments.
The Income Tax Act, 2025, which came into force on 1 April 2026, reorganised the advance tax provisions under Sections 403 to 408 without changing the core framework. The ₹10,000 threshold remains. The four-instalment schedule remains. The exemption for resident senior citizens without business income remains. What changed is the drafting structure and the shift from “Assessment Year” to “Tax Year” terminology. For most individual taxpayers, the practical experience of paying advance tax is unchanged[reference:0].
The rule is simple: if your estimated tax liability for the year, after adjusting TDS and TCS, is ₹10,000 or more, you must pay advance tax. This threshold is tested after subtracting the tax your employer deducts on salary, the tax deducted on your fixed deposit interest, and any other TDS credits.
This is why most salaried employees never pay advance tax. If your only income is salary and your employer deducts TDS correctly throughout the year, the liability is already settled. Advance tax becomes relevant when you have income streams where little or no tax is deducted at source. Common examples include:
A salaried employee with a side business or significant capital gains can easily cross the ₹10,000 threshold and become liable for advance tax, even though their salary TDS covers the salary portion. The advance tax calculator on Calculator200 helps you estimate this combined liability before the first deadline arrives.
Advance tax is payable in four instalments. Each instalment is a cumulative percentage of your estimated annual tax liability, not an additional percentage of the original estimate. By 15 September, for example, you need to have paid 45% of your estimated annual tax in total — which means 30% more than what you paid in June.
| Due Date | Instalment | Cumulative Tax Payable |
|---|---|---|
| 15 June 2026 | First | 15% of estimated annual tax |
| 15 September 2026 | Second | 45% of estimated annual tax |
| 15 December 2026 | Third | 75% of estimated annual tax |
| 15 March 2027 | Fourth | 100% of estimated annual tax |
If a due date falls on a weekend or public holiday, the payment can be made on the next working day without attracting interest. The Income Tax Department’s e-filing portal accepts advance tax payments through net banking, debit card, and UPI, and the challan is reflected in Form 26AS within a few days[reference:1].
The calculation is a calendar exercise, not a single formula. You estimate your total income for the year, apply the deductions and rebate you are eligible for, compute tax under your chosen regime, add cess, and subtract TDS and TCS. The result is the advance tax payable.
Here is the sequence in plain terms:
The remaining figure is your advance tax liability for the year, to be distributed across the four instalments according to the cumulative percentages.
Suppose you are a freelancer under the new regime with estimated annual income of ₹18,00,000. After the standard deduction of ₹75,000 (assuming some salary component) and eligible deductions, your taxable income is ₹17,00,000. Tax on this under the new regime slabs is approximately ₹2,10,000. Add 4% cess of ₹8,400 — total ₹2,18,400. You expect TDS of ₹40,000 from a client who deducts tax. Your advance tax liability is ₹1,78,400.
The instalments would be:
The exact numbers depend on your deductions and regime, which is why a income tax calculator is useful for estimating the base liability before you work out the instalments.
Missing advance tax deadlines does not attract a penalty in the traditional sense, but it does attract interest. Two sections govern this, and they apply at different points.
Section 234C deals with deferment of instalments. If you pay less than the prescribed percentage by a due date, interest at 1% per month is levied on the shortfall amount. The interest is calculated for three months for the June, September, and December instalments, and for one month for the March instalment. Even a delay of a few days triggers interest for a full month, because any fraction of a month is treated as a complete month[reference:3].
Section 234B applies when you have not paid at least 90% of your total assessed tax by the end of the financial year. In that case, interest at 1% per month is charged on the unpaid amount from 1 April of the assessment year until the tax is paid. This is a more serious situation because it applies to the entire shortfall, not just a quarterly instalment[reference:4].
| Section | When It Applies | Rate | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| 234C | Shortfall in a quarterly instalment | 1% per month | 3 months for June, September, December; 1 month for March |
| 234B | Advance tax paid is less than 90% of assessed tax | 1% per month | From 1 April of assessment year until payment |
The practical takeaway is straightforward: pay at least the cumulative percentage by each due date, and ensure that by 31 March you have paid at least 90% of what you expect to owe. If you are unsure of your final liability, it is better to pay slightly more than to risk 234B interest on the entire shortfall.
If your only income is salary and your employer deducts TDS correctly, you do not need to pay advance tax. Section 209 explicitly allows you to subtract tax deductible at source when computing advance tax liability. The employer’s monthly deduction is treated as tax paid on your behalf throughout the year[reference:5].
Trouble arises when you have income outside salary. A salaried professional earning ₹15 lakh from employment, with ₹80,000 interest from fixed deposits and ₹2 lakh long-term capital gains from equity, has a combined liability that the employer’s TDS does not cover. The employer only knows about salary. The interest income may have TDS at 10% if it exceeds the threshold, but the capital gains have no TDS at all. The shortfall must be paid as advance tax.
Many salaried employees discover this only in March when they file their return, and end up paying 234B interest on the shortfall. A better approach is to estimate the non-salary income early, calculate the tax on it, and pay it through the advance tax instalments. The TDS calculator helps you figure out how much TDS you can expect, so you can compute the gap.
Taxpayers who opt for the presumptive taxation scheme under Section 44AD (business) or Section 44ADA (professionals) are exempt from the quarterly instalment schedule. They are required to pay 100% of their advance tax in a single instalment by 15 March of the financial year[reference:6].
This is a significant simplification for small business owners and professionals. You do not need to estimate and pay in four parts. You declare income on a presumptive basis — 8% or 6% of turnover for Section 44AD, 50% of gross receipts for Section 44ADA — calculate tax on that amount, subtract TDS, and pay the balance by 15 March. If you have not opted for presumptive taxation, the regular four-instalment schedule applies.
One word of caution: if you opt for presumptive taxation in one year and later opt out, you may be locked out of the scheme for the next five years. The decision should be made with an understanding of your income trajectory, not just the convenience of a single payment.
The Income Tax Department’s e-Pay Tax facility is the standard route for paying advance tax. The process is straightforward and does not require a chartered accountant.
The challan counterfoil is generated immediately. Keep it for your records — you will need the BSR code and challan serial number when filing your return. Advance tax payments are generally reflected in Form 26AS within a few working days[reference:7].
Most advance tax interest is avoidable. These are the mistakes that taxpayers repeat year after year.
Using a free advance tax calculator helps you sanity-check your estimates before each deadline, so you do not discover a shortfall only when the interest has already accrued.
Any taxpayer whose estimated tax liability for the year, after deducting TDS and TCS, is ₹10,000 or more must pay advance tax. This includes freelancers, business owners, landlords, investors with capital gains, and salaried employees who have income beyond what their employer’s TDS covers.
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. Taxpayers under the presumptive taxation scheme pay 100% by 15 March 2027.
Interest under Section 234C is levied at 1% per month on the shortfall amount if the prescribed percentage is not paid by the due date. Even a delay of a few days attracts interest for one full month, as any fraction of a month is treated as a complete month for computation.
A resident senior citizen aged 60 or above who does not have income from business or profession is not liable to pay advance tax under Section 207. However, if they have business or professional income, advance tax provisions apply.
Capital gains are included while estimating advance tax liability. If gains arise after an instalment due date, the tax on those gains can be paid through the remaining instalments. For LTCG on listed equity, the exemption under Section 112A applies before calculating tax.
Yes. Taxpayers can revise their income estimate during the year. If income increases after the first or second instalment, the remaining instalments can be adjusted to pay tax according to the revised estimate. No separate intimation to the tax department is generally required.
Missing the June 15 deadline does not close the window entirely. You can still pay the instalment along with applicable interest under Section 234C. The upcoming September 15 instalment remains due, and paying both on time limits the interest impact.
Log in to the Income Tax e-filing portal, go to e-File and select e-Pay Tax. Click New Payment, choose Income Tax, select Advance Tax under minor head 100, enter the assessment year and amount, and complete the payment using net banking, debit card, or UPI.
Advance tax is not a burden designed to complicate your life. It is a cash-flow mechanism that spreads the tax cost of earning income across the year. The rules are clear, the deadlines are fixed, and the calculations are mechanical once you know your estimated income. The difficulty is in the estimation, especially when you have multiple income streams with different TDS treatment. A reliable advance tax calculator for India takes the guesswork out of the instalment amounts and shows you exactly what is due by each date. Set your estimates early, pay the cumulative percentages on time, and keep the interest under Sections 234B and 234C at zero. That is the entire game.