Advance Tax Calculator
Check whether you're on track with your quarterly advance tax installments, and estimate Section 234B and 234C penal interest if you're behind.
Bring this figure from the New Regime or Old vs New Tax Regime calculator — this tool focuses on the advance tax schedule and penalties, not recomputing your income tax from scratch.
Advance tax mandatory (net tax ≥ ₹10,000)
₹1,50,000
Balance tax still to pay
Net advance tax payable
₹1,50,000
Paid so far
₹0
Sec 234C interest
₹7,035
Sec 234B interest
₹6,000
✦ Advance tax insight
You've accrued ₹13,035 in penal interest under Sections 234B and 234C due to shortfalls against the required schedule. Paying the balance now stops further 234B interest from accruing.
Quarterly installment schedule
| Quarter | Due date | Cumulative target | Paid | Shortfall | Interest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | 15 June | ₹18,000 | ₹0 | ₹18,000 | ₹540 |
| Q2 | 15 September | ₹54,000 | ₹0 | ₹54,000 | ₹1,620 |
| Q3 | 15 December | ₹1,12,500 | ₹0 | ₹1,12,500 | ₹3,375 |
| Q4 | 15 March | ₹1,50,000 | ₹0 | ₹1,50,000 | ₹1,500 |
Advance tax rules, safe harbour & penalties
Section 234C thresholds
Interest is triggered if cumulative advance tax paid is below 12% by 15 June or 36% by 15 September — not the 15%/45% payment-schedule figures themselves. This built-in gap is sometimes called a safe harbour.
Section 234B — 90% minimum rule
If total advance tax paid by 31 March falls below 90% of your net tax payable, Section 234B charges 1% per month on the entire remaining balance, starting from 1 April, until you actually pay it.
How the quarterly targets and penalties work
Advance tax lets you pay your annual tax liability in installments through the year rather than in one lump sum at filing time — but missing the quarterly targets triggers interest, calculated separately from whether you eventually pay in full:
Note the required cumulative thresholds for 234C — 12%, 36%, 75%, 100% — are slightly lower than the commonly quoted 15%, 45%, 75%, 100% payment schedule. That gap exists specifically so minor shortfalls in the first two quarters don't trigger interest, as long as you're within a few percentage points.
Section 234B is a separate, often larger risk: if your total advance tax across all four quarters comes in under 90% of your actual liability, interest accrues at 1% per month on the full remaining balance — and this keeps accruing every month until you actually pay it, well past the financial year's end, unlike 234C which is fixed once each quarter closes.
Frequently asked questions
Anyone whose net tax liability (after TDS/TCS) is ₹10,000 or more in a financial year. This includes salaried individuals with significant income outside salary — capital gains, freelance income, rental income — where TDS alone doesn't cover the full liability.