Advance Tax Instalments FY 2025-26: 15% / 45% / 75% / 100% Schedule with June 15 First Trigger

Tuesday, 6 May 2026, opens a quiet patch on the macro calendar for India: no scheduled Reserve Bank of India policy decision, no SEBI board sitting, and no income-tax return filing deadline. The watchlist therefore pivots to the statutory clock that has already started ticking for assessees who pay advance tax. With financial year 2025-26 closed on 31 March 2026 and the final 100% instalment paid on 15 March 2026, attention now shifts to FY 2026-27, where the same Section 211 ladder restarts on 15 June 2026. This article explains the 15% / 45% / 75% / 100% cadence prescribed by the Income-tax Act, 1961, the interest exposure under Sections 234B and 234C, and what equity, fixed-income and earnings-driven investors should track between now and the next quarter-end.

Statutory Deadlines

The week beginning 6 May 2026 carries a series of compliance dates that taxpayers and finance teams cannot defer. The first is the Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) challan deposit for April 2026 deductions, due by 7 May 2026 under Rule 30 of the Income-tax Rules. Goods and Services Tax (GST) deductors and collectors must file GSTR-7 and GSTR-8 by 10 May 2026, while regular taxpayers face the GSTR-1 outward-supply filing on 11 May 2026 and GSTR-3B summary return on 20 May 2026. Our GST Monthly Filing Calendar May 2026 walks through each line item and the late-fee trigger that begins on the day after the due date.

The bigger statutory event for assessees with non-salary income is the first advance-tax instalment for FY 2026-27, due on 15 June 2026. Section 211 of the Income-tax Act prescribes a cumulative payment ladder for any taxpayer whose advance tax payable exceeds Rs 10,000 in a financial year, after factoring in TDS already deducted. The schedule is fixed, statutory and applies uniformly to individuals, Hindu Undivided Families, partnership firms, companies and limited liability partnerships. Resident senior citizens aged 60 or above, who do not have income from business or profession, are exempt under Section 207(2), as confirmed on the Income Tax Department's Income-tax Act reference page.

The cumulative ladder runs as follows:

A presumptive-tax filer under Section 44AD or 44ADA pays the full 100% in a single shot by 15 March 2027, bypassing the four-instalment route. Salaried taxpayers whose only liability is captured by employer TDS rarely encounter advance tax in practice, since deduction at source is treated as advance tax under Section 199.

Section 234B levies simple interest at 1% per month, or 12% annualised, on any shortfall in advance tax that is less than 90% of the assessed tax. Interest runs from 1 April of the assessment year to the date of regularisation. Section 234C imposes a separate 1% per month penalty for each instalment that fell short of the cumulative threshold above. The two interest charges stack: a taxpayer who defers the entire liability to the self-assessment stage will pay both 234B and 234C, with the latter triggered up to four times across the financial year.

Investors juggling capital-gains tax on equity disposals should note that Section 234C provides relief if the shortfall arises from capital gains, dividends or winnings declared after the instalment date, provided the tax on that income is paid in the immediately following instalment.

Market Events

The 6 May 2026 session opens with the Reserve Bank of India's June Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting still six weeks away. The MPC's three-day sitting traditionally concludes in the first week of June, after which the repo-rate decision is announced at 10:00 IST on the central bank's press-release portal. Until then, secondary-market yields take their cues from US Treasury moves, foreign portfolio investor flows and crude-oil prices. Our FII vs DII Flows explainer covers how the daily provisional data published on the BSE and NSE portals shapes Nifty intraday action.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India publishes its monthly bulletin in the second week of each month, covering primary-market activity, mutual-fund net inflows and weekly Foreign Portfolio Investor turnover. The Association of Mutual Funds in India publishes industry-wide net inflow data on the seventh working day of each month, making the May 2026 readout due on or around 12 May 2026. Investors tracking initial public offerings can scan SEBI's filings at sebi.gov.in for upcoming red-herring prospectuses.

For equity derivative traders, F&O expiry continues to fall on the last Thursday of the month for stock futures and on a weekly Thursday cadence for the Nifty 50 and Bank Nifty index contracts, per the SEBI 2024 update. Margin requirements and the position-limit framework are set out in our F&O Segment Margin Rules reference. The next monthly expiry for stock derivatives lands on Thursday, 28 May 2026.

Bond-market participants should also track the weekly Government Securities auction held by the RBI on Fridays, with the auction calendar published a fortnight in advance on the central bank's website. Treasury Bill yields at the 91-day, 182-day and 364-day tenors anchor the short end of the rupee curve and feed directly into liquid-fund net asset values, which is why advance-tax payers parking June-instalment cash often choose overnight or liquid funds for the eight to ten weeks of float between provisioning and payment.

Earnings

The Q4 FY26 corporate earnings cycle, which covers the January-March 2026 quarter, is in its final innings as of 6 May 2026. Listed companies must file audited annual results within 60 days of the financial-year close under Regulation 33 of the SEBI Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements (LODR), making the statutory deadline 30 May 2026. Most large-cap names declare results in late April or the first half of May, while mid-cap and small-cap filings cluster in the second half of May.

Investors evaluating Q4 prints should focus on year-on-year revenue growth, gross-margin trajectory, employee-cost ratio and segmental commentary. For banks, the four data points to compare are net interest margin, gross non-performing-asset ratio, provision coverage and credit growth. For information-technology services exporters, the headline metrics are dollar-denominated revenue, constant-currency growth, attrition rate and the deal-pipeline total contract value. Manufacturing companies disclose volume growth, realisation per unit, raw-material to sales ratio and capex guidance for the new fiscal year.

For long-term investors, Q4 commentary on FY27 capex plans matters more than the headline profit figure. A company guiding for 20% capex expansion typically signals demand visibility for the next 18 to 24 months, while a flat capex guide hints at margin pressure or weak order books. Translating these signals into a portfolio allocation is where systematic investment plans help: our SIP calculator and Step-up SIP calculator let investors model rupee-cost averaging across the post-earnings volatility window. For one-time deployments after a result-day fall, the Lumpsum calculator computes the corpus across compound-annual growth-rate scenarios.

FAQ

Who must pay advance tax in FY 2026-27?

Any assessee whose advance-tax payable for FY 2026-27 exceeds Rs 10,000 after deducting TDS must pay in instalments under Section 208 of the Income-tax Act. Salaried individuals whose entire liability is captured by employer TDS are spared the cycle. Resident senior citizens aged 60 or above, who have no business or professional income, are exempt under Section 207(2).

What is the first advance-tax due date for FY 2026-27?

The first instalment of 15% of estimated total tax is due on 15 June 2026 under Section 211. Payment is made via challan ITNS-280 on the e-filing portal at incometax.gov.in using minor head 100 (advance tax) and assessment year 2027-28.

What happens if I miss the 15 June instalment?

Section 234C imposes simple interest at 1% per month for three months on the shortfall below 12% of total tax, since the relief threshold sits 3 percentage points below the 15% target. On a Rs 1 lakh tax liability, an investor who pays only Rs 5,000 by 15 June 2026 instead of the required Rs 15,000 incurs Rs 300 in 234C interest (1% x 3 months x Rs 10,000). Section 234B interest at 12% per annum applies additionally if the cumulative shortfall by 31 March 2027 exceeds 10% of the assessed tax.

Does the new tax regime change the advance-tax schedule?

No. The Section 211 instalment ladder is regime-agnostic. Whether a taxpayer files under Section 115BAC (new regime) or the legacy regime, the 15%, 45%, 75% and 100% cadence applies. Only the underlying tax computation differs.

Are capital-gains payouts covered under advance tax?

Yes, but Section 234C provides a carry-forward relief: tax on capital gains, dividends or income received after an instalment date can be paid in the immediately following instalment without 234C interest, provided the full amount is paid by 15 March 2027. This relief does not extend to interest under Section 234B.

Is interest paid under 234B and 234C deductible?

No. Interest paid for delay or shortfall in advance tax is treated as a personal expense and is not allowed as a deduction under any head of income. Companies cannot claim it as a business expense either.

Which mode of payment is preferred for instalments?

The Income Tax Department mandates electronic payment via internet banking, debit card, UPI or RTGS for individuals and Hindu Undivided Families covered under Section 44AB tax audit, and for companies. Other taxpayers may use over-the-counter challan deposits at authorised banks, although the e-payment route provides immediate Form 26AS reflection.