Instalments of advance tax and due dates
95[Instalments of advance tax and due dates.
211. (1) Advance tax on the current income, calculated in the manner laid down in section 209 shall be payable by all the assessees who are liable to pay the same in three instalments during each financial year, the due date of, and the amount payable in, each such instalment being as specified in the following Table :
| Due date of instalment | Amount payable |
| On or before the 15th September | Not less than twenty per cent of such advance tax. |
| On or before the 15th December | Not less than fifty percent of such advance tax, as reduced by the amount, if any, paid in the earlier instalment |
| On or before the 15th March | The whole amount of such advance tax as reduced by the amount or amounts, if any, paid in the earlier instalment or instalments : if any, paid in the earlier instalment |
Provided that any amount paid by way of advance tax on or before the 31st day of March shall also be treated as advance tax paid during the financial year ending on that day for all the purposes of this Act.
(2) If the notice of demand issued under section 156 in pursuance of an order of the Assessing Officer under sub-section (3) or sub-section (4) of section 210 is served after any of the due dates specified in sub-section (1), the appropriate part or, as the case may be, the whole of the amount of the advance tax specified in such notice shall be payable on or before each of such of those dates as fall after the date of service of the notice of demand.]
95. Substituted by the Direct Tax Laws (Amendment) Act, 1987, w.e.f. 1-4-1988. Earlier, it was amended by the Finance Act, 1969, w.e.f. 1-4-1969, the Finance Act, 1972, w.e.f. 1-4-1972 and the Finance Act, 1978, w.e.f. 1-6-1978. Prior to its substitution, section 211 stood as under:
'Instalments of advance tax.— (1) Subject to the provisions of this section and of sections 209A and 212, advance tax shall be payable in three equal instalments on the following dates during the financial year, namely:—
(i) the 15th day of June, the 15th day of September and the 15th day of December, in the case of an assessee whose total income to the extent of 75 per cent thereof or more is derived from a source or sources for which the previous year (relevant to the assessment year next following the financial year aforesaid) ends on or before the 31st day of December;
(ii) the 15th day of September, the 15th day of December and the 15th day of March, in any other case:
Provided that in respect of any class of assessees referred to in clause (i), the Board may, having regard to the nature of dealings in the business carried on by such assessees, the method of accounting followed by them and other relevant factors, authorise, by notification in the Official Gazette and subject to such conditions as may be specified therein, the payment of the last instalment of the advance tax on the 15th day of March during the financial year, instead of on the 15th day of December.
Explanation: In this sub-section, "total income" means,—
(a) in a case where the advance tax is paid by the assessee in accordance with the statement sent by him under sub-section (1) of section 209A or in accordance with an order of the Income-tax Officer under section 210, the total income with reference to which the advance tax payable has been calculated in such statement or order;
(b) in a case where the advance tax is paid in accordance with an estimate (including a revised estimate) made by the assessee under section 209A or section 212, the total income with reference to which the advance tax is so estimated,
as reduced, in either case, by the amount of capital gain and income referred to in sub-clause (ix) of clause (24) of section 2, if any, included therein.
(2) If the notice of demand issued under section 156 in pursuance of the order under section 210 is served after any of the dates on which the instalments specified therein are payable, the advance tax shall be payable in equal instalments on each of such of those dates as fall after the date of the service of the notice of demand, or in one sum on the 15th day of March, if the notice is served after the 15th day of December.'
[As amended by the Finance Act, 1989 and the Direct Tax Laws (Amendment) Act, 1989]