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Salaried people never think about advance tax — TDS quietly handles it. The moment you start freelancing or running a business, that comfort disappears: if your total tax liability for the year exceeds ₹10,000, the Income Tax Act expects you to pay it in quarterly instalments during the year you earn it. Miss the schedule and interest meters start running at 1% a month.
Here's the whole system — dates, math, payment steps — in one read.
Who must pay advance tax
- Anyone — freelancer, business owner, professional, even a salaried person with big side income — whose tax liability after TDS exceeds ₹10,000 for the financial year
- Exception: resident senior citizens (60+) with no business income are exempt
- Presumptive scheme users (44AD/44ADA — most freelancers should know this one) get a relaxed schedule: one instalment, 100% by 15 March
That last point is huge for wedding photographers, makeup artists and independent professionals using Section 44ADA's presumptive taxation — you skip the quarterly grind entirely and pay once in March.
The due dates (regular schedule)
| Due date | Cumulative advance tax paid |
|---|---|
| 15 June | 15% |
| 15 September | 45% |
| 15 December | 75% |
| 15 March | 100% |
Note the word cumulative — by 15 December you should have paid 75% of the year's total estimated tax, not 75% in that quarter.
Calculating it (a worked example)
Meera, a freelance makeup artist in Pune, estimates FY 2026-27 like this:
- Expected receipts: ₹18,00,000
- Using 44ADA: presumptive income = 50% = ₹9,00,000
- Tax under the new regime on ₹9,00,000 ≈ ₹37,500 + 4% cess ≈ ₹39,000
- TDS already deducted by corporate clients (10% under 194J on some invoices): say ₹15,000
- Advance tax payable: ₹24,000 — and being on 44ADA, all of it by 15 March 2027
If she weren't presumptive: ₹3,600 by June, cumulative ₹10,800 by September, ₹18,000 by December, ₹24,000 by March.
Two practical notes: estimate honestly but don't agonise — you can adjust later instalments as the year's income becomes clear. And check your AIS/26AS for TDS credits before each instalment; wedding-industry freelancers routinely forget that corporate clients already deducted 10%.
The interest penalties: 234B and 234C
- Section 234C — instalment shortfalls: 1% per month for 3 months per missed/short quarterly instalment (1 month for the March one). Mercy rules: no interest if you've paid 12% by June or 36% by September; and shortfalls due to unforeseeable income (capital gains, lottery) are excused if paid in the next instalment.
- Section 234B — annual shortfall: if by 31 March you've paid less than 90% of your final liability, 1% per month on the shortfall from 1 April until you pay.
Neither will bankrupt you, but they're pure waste — 12% annualised for a scheduling failure.
How to pay online (5 minutes)
- Go to the income tax e-filing portal → e-Pay Tax
- Enter PAN and mobile; verify OTP
- Choose Income Tax → Advance Tax (100) for the correct assessment year (FY 2026-27 = AY 2027-28 — the classic mistake is picking the wrong AY)
- Enter the amount, pay via net banking/UPI/debit card/NEFT
- Download the challan (CRN receipt); the credit appears in your 26AS/AIS within days
Keep the challan PDFs with your tax folder — the same discipline as expense records.
A cash-flow system that makes this painless
Advance tax hurts when the money's already spent. The fix is upstream: transfer a fixed percentage of every client payment into a separate account the day it lands — 15–20% covers tax comfortably for most freelancers under presumptive taxation, more at higher slabs. Come 15 March, the money's sitting there.
Knowing what you actually earned each quarter is the other half — guessing your income in December because invoices live in seventeen WhatsApp chats is how estimates go wrong. BrightDesk gives you a running picture of invoiced income and received payments per month, which turns advance-tax estimation from archaeology into a two-minute glance. Pair this guide with TDS for freelancers and the full freelancer income tax guide for the complete tax picture.