Advance tax: How to check and download challan, make corrections in case of errors — step-by-step guide

15 March marked the deadline for paying the final instalment of advance tax for the current financial year. The payment applies to taxpayers whose net liability is ₹10,000 or more after accounting for tax deducted at source (TDS), tax collected at source (TCS), and tax credits.

With the deadline now over, here’s how you can check and download your advance tax challan, what to do if there was a mistake, and a step-by-step guide to making corrections.

What is advance tax? What are the deadlines?

In a “pay-as-you-go” system of taxation, advance tax is paid in instalments on estimated tax for the financial year. It is to be paid through the official income-tax portal here — https://www.incometax.gov.in/iec/foportal/ (direct link).

The advance tax payment is made through a certain percentage of the four instalments as follows, annually:

• 15 June: 15% of total tax liability
• 15 September: 45% of total tax liability
• 15 December: 75% of total tax liability
• 15 March: 100% of total tax liability

Who pays advance tax? What is the penalty for missing deadlines?

This is usually paid by those earning as consultants, freelancers, or from asset sales, rental property income, interest earned on fixed deposits, and/or capital gains from mutual funds and stocks. However, senior citizens (60 years and over), who do not own a business or get a professional income, are excluded.

Taxpayers who either miss the instalment or pay less than the required amount are liable to pay interest of 1% per month on the unpaid portion of the tax. Further, if you pay less than 90% of the total tax liability by 15 March, interest under Section 234B may continue to apply on the remaining amount till the dues are fully cleared.

How to check advance tax payment status, download challan?

• You can check the status of your advance tax payment challan here — https://tin.tin.nsdl.com/oltas/index.html
• Select CIN view. CIN is the Challan Identification Number.
• Enter the required details, and the challan will be displayed.
• Besides this, you can also check the list of advance tax payments in your Form 26AS.
• The Form 26AS is available on the I-T portal after you log in.

How can I rectify mistake made in advance tax payment challan?

You can view your online challan and use the correction feature to change the assessment year (within 7 days of payment) and the major and minor heads (within 30 days).

No payment / amount-related changes can be made. For corrections that cannot be made on the e-filing portal, taxpayers can contact their jurisdictional assessing officer (find out who on the e-filing portal under ‘Know Your AO’) to make corrections to the challan details, according to Clear Tax.

Here's a step-by-step guide to make corrections to the tax challan:

• Log in to the e-filing ITR portal
• Select “Challan Correction” from the services tab and click on “Create Challan Correction Request”
• Choose the correction type: Assessment year, major head, or minor head
• Enter either the Assessment Year or the Challan Identification Number (CIN)
• Choose the relevant challan for correction and make the changes.
• Verify changes using Aadhaar OTP, Digital Signature Certificate (DSC), or Electronic Verification Code (EVC) via net banking, Demat, or a bank account.
• You will receive a success message and transaction ID, which can be used to track the status of the correction.