Advance Tax Installment Percentages and Due Dates

Advance tax installment percentages and due dates set how much of your annual tax bill is owed at each deadline during the year. In India, the cumulative targets under Section 211 of the Income Tax Act are 15% by June 15, 45% by September 15, 75% by December 15, and 100% by March 15 of the financial year. In the United States, the estimated tax system splits the required annual payment into four equal installments of 25%, due April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15 of the following year.

India’s Four Installment Deadlines

Section 211 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, fixes four deadlines during each financial year (April 1 through March 31). The percentages are cumulative, so each deadline’s target counts everything already paid in earlier quarters:

June 15: at least 15% of total estimated advance tax.
September 15: at least 45% of the total, less anything already paid.
December 15: at least 75% of the total, less earlier payments.
March 15: the remaining balance, bringing the total to 100%.

Translated into the amount due at each individual deadline, that works out to 15%, then 30%, then 30%, then 25%. Any payment made by March 31 still counts as advance tax for that financial year even if the March 15 deadline is missed, though interest applies for the late period.¹

Because the schedule is cumulative, overpaying in one quarter offsets a shortfall in the next. If income changes significantly mid-year, recalculate the remaining installments against the revised full-year estimate rather than trying to unwind earlier payments.

Presumptive Taxation: One Installment Only

Small businesses and professionals computing income under the presumptive schemes in Sections 44AD and 44ADA don’t follow the four-installment schedule. The entire advance tax is due in a single installment on or before March 15 of the financial year.¹

Who Has to Pay Advance Tax in India

Advance tax applies if your estimated tax liability for the financial year, after subtracting Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) and Tax Collected at Source (TCS), is ₹10,000 or more. This covers salaried professionals with sizeable outside income, freelancers, self-employed individuals, and businesses.²

Resident senior citizens (age 60 or above) who have no income from a business or profession are exempt from advance tax entirely and can settle their liability when filing their return. The exemption ends the moment business or professional income appears; the standard quarterly schedule then applies.³

U.S. Estimated Tax: Four Equal Installments

The U.S. system splits the required annual payment into four equal quarters of 25% each. The 2026 deadlines are:

April 15, 2026: first installment, covering income earned January through March.
June 15, 2026: second installment, April through May.
September 15, 2026: third installment, June through August.
January 15, 2027: fourth installment, September through December.

If a due date falls on a weekend or federal holiday, a payment made on the next business day is on time. The January 15 payment can be skipped entirely if you file your 2026 return and pay the full remaining balance by February 1, 2027.⁴

Who Has to Pay U.S. Estimated Tax

Estimated tax payments for 2026 are required if you expect to owe at least $1,000 in federal tax after subtracting withholding and refundable credits, and you expect your withholding and refundable credits to be less than the smaller of 90% of your 2026 tax or 100% of your 2025 tax (with your 2025 return covering a full 12-month year).⁵

If your adjusted gross income for 2025 exceeded $150,000 ($75,000 if married filing separately), the 100% prior-year threshold rises to 110%.⁵ No estimated tax is owed at all if you had no tax liability for the full 12-month 2025 tax year and were a U.S. citizen or resident alien for all of 2025.⁴

The “required annual payment” you divide into four is the smaller of those two safe-harbor numbers: 90% of the current year’s tax or 100% (or 110%) of the prior year’s tax. The prior-year figure is fixed and known, which is why many self-employed taxpayers anchor their quarterly amounts to it rather than trying to project the current year precisely.

Farmers and Commercial Fishermen

If at least two-thirds of your gross income for 2025 or 2026 comes from farming or fishing, the 90% current-year threshold drops to 66⅔%. A single estimated payment by January 15, 2027, replaces the quarterly schedule, and even that payment can be skipped if you file and pay in full by March 1, 2027.⁶

What Happens If You Miss an Installment

India

Two interest provisions apply. Section 234B covers cases where no advance tax was paid or less than 90% of the assessed tax was paid by year-end: simple interest at 1% per month (or part of a month) on the shortfall, running from April 1 of the assessment year until assessment.⁷

Section 234C targets the individual installment deadlines. Paying less than the required cumulative percentage at any of the four dates triggers 1% per month on the shortfall for three months per installment, except the final one, where interest runs until the tax is paid. Missing the 15% June 15 target by 5%, for example, means interest on that 5% for three months. Charges are calculated independently for each deadline, so even a partial payment at each date limits the damage.

United States

When payments fall short and no safe harbor is met, the IRS calculates the underpayment penalty from the shortfall amount, the period it was underpaid, and the published quarterly interest rate. For 2026, the individual underpayment rate is 7% in the first quarter and 6% in the second, with later quarters announced as the year progresses.⁸ The penalty is computed separately for each installment period and interest accrues until payment.⁹

When Income Arrives Unevenly

Both systems assume income is spread across the year, which rarely matches reality. In India, because the targets are cumulative, a large gain in a later quarter simply raises the target at the next deadline. Recalculate the remaining installments against the revised full-year estimate and pay the difference by the next due date.

In the U.S., a bonus in the third quarter or a property sale in November can throw off the equal-25% math. The annualized income installment method recalculates each quarter’s required payment based on income actually received during that period rather than assuming even earning. It is claimed by completing Schedule AI with Form 2210 at filing time and can reduce or eliminate penalties for earlier quarters when the income had not yet arrived.¹⁰

1
Income Tax Department. Income Tax Act 1961 – Section 211
2
Income Tax Department. Income Tax Act 1961 – Section 208
3
Income Tax Department. Senior Citizens and Super Senior Citizens for AY 2026-2027
4
Internal Revenue Service. Estimated Tax for Individuals
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 6654 – Failure by Individual to Pay Estimated Income Tax
6
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 505 (2026), Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax
7
Income Tax Department. Income Tax Act 1961 – Section 234B
8
Internal Revenue Service. Quarterly Interest Rates
9
Internal Revenue Service. Underpayment of Estimated Tax by Individuals Penalty
10
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 2210