Salaried employees need to pay advance tax when the year's tax left after TDS is ₹10,000 or more. Your employer's TDS covers your salary and, unless you declare other income to it, nothing else, so the trigger is usually FD interest, capital gains, rent or dividends. At a ₹28 lakh salary, ₹3,00,000 of FD interest and a ₹2,00,000 equity gain leave Asha ₹73,350 to pay after TDS, so ₹55,013 is due by 15 December.

When does a salaried person owe advance tax?

Section 404 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (section 208 of the 1961 Act) sets the ₹10,000 test on the tax left after all the year's TDS. For FY 2026-27, the advance tax due dates are 15 June, 15 September, 15 December and 15 March, by which 15%, 45%, 75% and all of that tax must be paid.

A bank deducts 10% on FD interest once your interest from it crosses ₹50,000 in a year, about a third of the 31.2% the 30% slab charges with cess. Fund and share sales carry no TDS for a resident. Form 26AS vs AIS shows where the interest, its TDS and the sales appear.

Section 425 of the 2025 Act (section 234C of the 1961 Act) charges interest on a short instalment: 1% a month for three months on each of the first three, and 1% for one month in March, on the shortfall rounded down to the nearest ₹100. Tax on a capital gain made after an instalment date does not count in that instalment, provided it is paid in the instalments still to come, or by 31 March.

What does Asha owe by 15 December?

Asha has a gross salary of ₹28 lakh under the new regime. After the ₹75,000 standard deduction her taxable salary is ₹27,25,000, in the 30% slab, and her employer's TDS of ₹4,13,400 covers it.

Her deposits will pay ₹3,00,000 of interest this year, with ₹30,000 of TDS. At 31.2% the tax on it is ₹93,600, so ₹63,600 is left. In August she sold equity fund units held over a year, a ₹2,00,000 gain: the ₹75,000 above the ₹1.25 lakh exemption costs 12.5% plus cess, ₹9,750. In all, ₹73,350 is left after TDS, well past ₹10,000.

Due by Share Asha's cumulative figure
15 June 15% of ₹63,600 (before the gain) ₹9,540
15 September 45% of ₹73,350 ₹33,008
15 December 75% of ₹73,350 ₹55,013
15 March All of it ₹73,350

With nothing paid by October, June and September have already cost Asha ₹1,275: 3% on ₹9,500 is ₹285, and 3% on ₹33,000 is ₹990. Advance tax paid now cannot undo that (the TDS route below can), but ₹55,013 by 15 December stops a further ₹1,650.

If she sells in January 2027 instead, the gain counts in no instalment before March. September's figure drops to ₹28,620 and its interest to ₹858, so ₹1,143 in all so far; 15 December's is ₹47,700, 75% of ₹63,600, and the ₹9,750 goes with the rest by 15 March. Rates for other fund types are in mutual fund capital gains tax.

How much is due by 15 December at other salaries?

The same interest, TDS and gain, under the new regime for FY 2026-27:

Gross salary Left after TDS By 15 Dec, gain made before it By 15 Dec, gain made after it
₹15 lakh ₹33,050 ₹24,788 ₹17,475
₹18 lakh ₹43,450 ₹32,588 ₹25,275
₹22 lakh ₹59,050 ₹44,288 ₹36,975
₹28 lakh ₹73,350 ₹55,013 ₹47,700

At ₹15 lakh the interest spans the 15% and 20% slabs; from about ₹24.75 lakh gross (₹24 lakh taxable) all of it is at 30%, so the ₹28 lakh row holds up to about ₹45 lakh, after which income passes ₹50 lakh and a surcharge starts. The FD vs mutual funds guide shows interest income tax at each slab against the 10% the bank deducts.

What if you wait for the return?

If less than 90% of the tax after TDS is paid by 31 March, section 424 of the 2025 Act (section 234B of the 1961 Act) adds 1% a month from April until you pay. Had Asha paid nothing until filing in July 2027, the gain would count even in June's instalment, since its tax was not paid in a later one. Instalment interest would reach ₹3,703 and section 424 would add ₹2,932, ₹6,635 in all, against ₹1,275 if she pays by 15 December and 15 March.

How do you pay advance tax online, or through TDS?

Pay through e-Pay Tax on the income tax e-filing portal, choosing advance tax for tax year 2026-27; the payment then shows in AIS.

The other route is your employer. Declare the interest and the gain in Form 122 (was Form 12BAA) and the employer takes them into account in salary TDS; job changers use the same form for an earlier salary, as two Form 16s in one year explains. Instalments are worked on the tax left after all the year's TDS, so if Asha's employer deducts the ₹73,350 from her November to March salaries, about ₹14,670 a month, nothing is left for advance tax and no instalment interest arises. A bonus is salary, so your employer's TDS already covers it, as tax on bonus explains.

Dhi looks at your cash flow, net worth, protection and goals together, and answers questions like this from your own numbers. Dhi nudges when something needs attention, never mis-sells and earns no commissions.

Frequently asked questions

Not if you are a resident aged 60 or more at any time in the year and have no business or professional income (section 403(3) of the Income-tax Act, 2025, section 207(2) of the 1961 Act). You pay any balance as self-assessment tax before you file, and the interest for missed instalments does not arise.
Yes. The ₹10,000 test, the four due dates and the interest on a short instalment are the same under both regimes. Only the tax itself changes, because the old regime has different slabs and allows deductions such as section 80C of the 1961 Act (section 123 of the 2025 Act).
You may. Each employer works TDS as if its salary were all you earn, so the standard deduction and the lower slabs are counted twice and salary TDS falls short, and that shortfall counts toward the ₹10,000 test. Declaring your earlier salary to the new employer in Form 122 (was Form 12B) lets it deduct the balance before March.

This is general information for salaried individuals in India, not personalised financial advice.