Advance Tax Calculator (India) — Instalments, Due Dates & 234B/234C Interest

How it works

advance tax = estimated tax (slab + 4% cess) − TDS/TCS, if ≥ ₹10,000 · cumulative dues: 15% by 15 Jun, 45% by 15 Sep, 75% by 15 Dec, 100% by 15 Mar (presumptive: 100% by 15 Mar) · 234C = 1% × 3 months × shortfall (1 month for March); safe if ≥ 12% / 36% for the first two · 234B = 1% per month on the unpaid amount from 1 April when < 90% paid by 31 March

India collects income tax as the year goes: anyone whose tax after deduction at source exceeds ten thousand rupees must pay it in four cumulative instalments, and the law charges simple interest at one percent a month on two kinds of lapse — under-paying an instalment (Section 234C, for the three months until the next one) and finishing the year below ninety percent of the liability (Section 234B, from April until the balance is paid). Salaried people are usually covered by their employer's deductions, so the rule bites on interest, rent, capital gains and self-employment income; estimating early and topping up each quarter is cheap insurance, since the interest is never refunded and overpayments come back with interest.

Worked example

Taxable income of ₹24 lakh under the new regime carries ₹3.12 lakh of tax including cess; with ₹1.5 lakh of TDS the advance-tax liability is ₹1.62 lakh — ₹24,300 by 15 June, ₹72,900 by 15 September, ₹1.215 lakh by 15 December and the rest by 15 March. Paying nothing in June and only ₹1 lakh thereafter incurs roughly ₹2,000 of 234C interest and, with only 62% paid by 31 March, about ₹2,500 of 234B interest over four months — around ₹4,500 avoidable by paying the ₹62,000 balance on time.

Frequently asked questions