CHAPTER XVII - COLLECTION AND RECOVERY OF TAX - C.-ADVANCE PAYMENT OF TAX
CHAPTER XVII - COLLECTION AND RECOVERY OF TAX - C.-ADVANCE PAYMENT OF TAX
Section 210 - Payment of Advance Tax by the Assessee of His Own Accord or in Pursuance of Order of Assessing Officer
Case Laws & Commentary - Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended by the Finance Act, 2026) - bharattax.co Treatise
Status: Live. The operative payment provision - self-payment with a residual power in the Assessing Officer.
Finance Act, 2026: No amendment.
Mechanism: The assessee pays advance tax of his own accord on the section 211 due dates (sub-section (1)), may revise instalments to his estimate (sub-section (2)); the Assessing Officer may, by order with a section 156 demand, require payment on the latest assessed basis (sub-sections (3)/(4)), which the assessee may displace by a lower estimate (sub-section (5)) or must exceed if higher (sub-section (6)).
Litigation profile: Limited litigation; chiefly on the validity of an order/notice under sub-sections (3)/(4) and the right of self-estimate. Candour rule observed.
A. SECTION COMMENTARY
Section 210 prescribes who pays advance tax and how. Its dominant rule, in sub-section (1), is self-assessment of the advance-tax liability: every person liable under section 208 must, of his own accord and whether or not previously assessed, pay on each due date in section 211 the appropriate percentage of the advance tax on his current income, calculated under section 209. Sub-section (2) lets the assessee revise his instalments up or down to accord with his own estimate of current income. The provision thus places the primary burden of computation and payment on the assessee, reflecting the 1988 shift away from the estimate-filing regime.
The Assessing Officer's residual power (sub-sections (3) to (6))
Sub-sections (3) and (4) preserve a residual power in the Assessing Officer. Where a person has already been assessed by regular assessment, the Assessing Officer may, at any time during the financial year but not later than the last day of February, by order in writing require him to pay advance tax computed under section 209 on the latest assessed (or, after a later return/assessment, an amended) basis, and issue a notice of demand under section 156. The assessee served with such an order is not bound by it if his own estimate is lower: sub-section (5) lets him send an intimation in the prescribed form and pay on his own estimate; and sub-section (6) requires him, if his estimate is higher, to pay the higher amount of his own accord. The Assessing Officer's order is thus a floor that the assessee may displace by a bona fide lower estimate or must exceed if his true liability is greater.
Notice of demand and enforceability
Because an order under section 210(3)/(4) is backed by a notice of demand under section 156, default in paying the advance tax so demanded carries the consequence in section 218 (the assessee is deemed to be in default) and exposes him to recovery and to interest. The order must satisfy the temporal limit (not later than the last day of February) and must be founded on a completed regular assessment of an earlier year; an order outside those limits is open to challenge.
Practical incidence
In contemporary practice the Assessing Officer's power under sub-section (3) is sparingly used, the system relying overwhelmingly on self-computation under sub-section (1) read with the instalment table in section 211. The litigation on section 210 is correspondingly limited and tends to concern the validity of an order/notice under sub-sections (3)/(4) and the assessee's right to substitute his own estimate under sub-section (5).
B. STATUTORY POSITION (verbatim text)
Reproduced verbatim from the Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended up to the Finance Act, 2025); the Finance Act, 2026 makes no amendment to this section. Editorial "[Omitted...]" notes are those of the Legislature.
210. (1) Every person who is liable to pay advance tax under section 208 (whether or not he has been previously assessed by way of regular assessment) shall, of his own accord, pay, on or before each of the due dates specified in section 211, the appropriate percentage, specified in that section, of the advance tax on his current income, calculated in the manner laid down in section 209.
(2) A person who pays any instalment or instalments of advance tax under sub-section (1), may increase or reduce the amount of advance tax payable in the remaining instalment or instalments to accord with his estimate of his current income and the advance tax payable thereon, and make payment of the said amount in the remaining instalment or instalments accordingly.
(3) In the case of a person who has been already assessed by way of regular assessment in respect of the total income of any previous year, the Assessing Officer, if he is of opinion that such person is liable to pay advance tax, may, at any time during the financial year but not later than the last day of February, by order in writing, require such person to pay advance tax calculated in the manner laid down in section 209, and issue to such person a notice of demand under section 156 specifying the instalment or instalments in which such tax is to be paid.
(4) If, after the making of an order by the Assessing Officer under sub-section (3) and at any time before the 1st day of March, a return of income is furnished by the assessee under section 139 or in response to a notice under sub-section (1) of section 142, or a regular assessment of the assessee is made in respect of a previous year later than that referred to in sub-section (3), the Assessing Officer may make an amended order and issue to such assessee a notice of demand under section 156 requiring the assessee to pay, on or before the due date or each of the due dates specified in section 211 falling after the date of the amended order, the appropriate percentage, specified in section 211, of the advance tax computed on the basis of the total income declared in such return or in respect of which the regular assessment aforesaid has been made.
(5) A person who is served with an order of the Assessing Officer under sub-section (3) or an amended order under sub-section (4) may, if in his estimation the advance tax payable on his current income would be less than the amount of the advance tax specified in such order or amended order, send an intimation in the prescribed form to the Assessing Officer to that effect and pay such advance tax as accords with his estimate, calculated in the manner laid down in section 209, at the appropriate percentage thereof specified in section 211, on or before the due date or each of the due dates specified in section 211 falling after the date of such intimation.
(6) A person who is served with an order of the Assessing Officer under sub-section (3) or amended order under sub-section (4) shall, if in his estimation the advance tax payable on his current income would exceed the amount of advance tax specified in such order or amended order or intimated by him under sub-section (5), pay on or before the due date of the last instalment specified in section 211, the appropriate part or, as the case may be, the whole of such higher amount of advance tax as accords with his estimate, calculated in the manner laid down in section 209.
C. AUTHORITIES
Section 210 is largely machinery; reported litigation is limited and concerns chiefly the Assessing Officer's residual power under sub-sections (3)/(4) and the assessee's right of self-estimate. The candour rule is observed. All citations have been web-verified.
Cluster 1 - The scheme of self-payment and the Assessing Officer's order
The section's own text is rarely the direct subject of merits litigation; the authorities below fix the scheme within which it operates.
Modi Industries Ltd. v. CIT (1995) 216 ITR 759 (SC)
Relevance: Explains that advance tax paid under section 210 - whether of the assessee's own accord or in pursuance of an order - is, on regular assessment, treated as payment of tax and credited under section 219, and fixes the meaning of "regular assessment" that an order under sub-section (3) presupposes.
Use: Locates section 210 within the collection-and-credit scheme of the Chapter.
CIT v. Anjum M. H. Ghaswala (2001) 252 ITR 1 (SC) [Constitution Bench]
Relevance: Confirms the mandatory character of the advance-tax obligation that section 210 operationalises; default carries automatic interest under sections 234B/234C, not waivable as a matter of discretion.
Use: Underlines that the section 210 duty is not optional once section 208 is attracted.
Compiled for the bharattax.co Treatise on the Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended by the Finance Act, 2026). Statutory text is reproduced verbatim from the bare Act; case-law citations have been web-verified. Where a section is omitted, spent or substantially unlitigated, the candour rule is observed - the absence of direct authority is stated and only genuinely cognate authority is offered. This digest is for professional reference and is not a substitute for the official report of any judgment.
CHAPTER XVII - COLLECTION AND RECOVERY OF TAX - C.-ADVANCE PAYMENT OF TAX
Section 210 - Payment of Advance Tax by the Assessee of His Own Accord or in Pursuance of Order of Assessing Officer
Case Laws & Commentary - Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended by the Finance Act, 2026) - bharattax.co Treatise
Status: Live. The operative payment provision - self-payment with a residual power in the Assessing Officer.
Finance Act, 2026: No amendment.
Mechanism: The assessee pays advance tax of his own accord on the section 211 due dates (sub-section (1)), may revise instalments to his estimate (sub-section (2)); the Assessing Officer may, by order with a section 156 demand, require payment on the latest assessed basis (sub-sections (3)/(4)), which the assessee may displace by a lower estimate (sub-section (5)) or must exceed if higher (sub-section (6)).
Litigation profile: Limited litigation; chiefly on the validity of an order/notice under sub-sections (3)/(4) and the right of self-estimate. Candour rule observed.
A. SECTION COMMENTARY
Section 210 prescribes who pays advance tax and how. Its dominant rule, in sub-section (1), is self-assessment of the advance-tax liability: every person liable under section 208 must, of his own accord and whether or not previously assessed, pay on each due date in section 211 the appropriate percentage of the advance tax on his current income, calculated under section 209. Sub-section (2) lets the assessee revise his instalments up or down to accord with his own estimate of current income. The provision thus places the primary burden of computation and payment on the assessee, reflecting the 1988 shift away from the estimate-filing regime.
The Assessing Officer's residual power (sub-sections (3) to (6))
Sub-sections (3) and (4) preserve a residual power in the Assessing Officer. Where a person has already been assessed by regular assessment, the Assessing Officer may, at any time during the financial year but not later than the last day of February, by order in writing require him to pay advance tax computed under section 209 on the latest assessed (or, after a later return/assessment, an amended) basis, and issue a notice of demand under section 156. The assessee served with such an order is not bound by it if his own estimate is lower: sub-section (5) lets him send an intimation in the prescribed form and pay on his own estimate; and sub-section (6) requires him, if his estimate is higher, to pay the higher amount of his own accord. The Assessing Officer's order is thus a floor that the assessee may displace by a bona fide lower estimate or must exceed if his true liability is greater.
Notice of demand and enforceability
Because an order under section 210(3)/(4) is backed by a notice of demand under section 156, default in paying the advance tax so demanded carries the consequence in section 218 (the assessee is deemed to be in default) and exposes him to recovery and to interest. The order must satisfy the temporal limit (not later than the last day of February) and must be founded on a completed regular assessment of an earlier year; an order outside those limits is open to challenge.
Practical incidence
In contemporary practice the Assessing Officer's power under sub-section (3) is sparingly used, the system relying overwhelmingly on self-computation under sub-section (1) read with the instalment table in section 211. The litigation on section 210 is correspondingly limited and tends to concern the validity of an order/notice under sub-sections (3)/(4) and the assessee's right to substitute his own estimate under sub-section (5).
B. STATUTORY POSITION (verbatim text)
Reproduced verbatim from the Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended up to the Finance Act, 2025); the Finance Act, 2026 makes no amendment to this section. Editorial "[Omitted...]" notes are those of the Legislature.
210. (1) Every person who is liable to pay advance tax under section 208 (whether or not he has been previously assessed by way of regular assessment) shall, of his own accord, pay, on or before each of the due dates specified in section 211, the appropriate percentage, specified in that section, of the advance tax on his current income, calculated in the manner laid down in section 209.
(2) A person who pays any instalment or instalments of advance tax under sub-section (1), may increase or reduce the amount of advance tax payable in the remaining instalment or instalments to accord with his estimate of his current income and the advance tax payable thereon, and make payment of the said amount in the remaining instalment or instalments accordingly.
(3) In the case of a person who has been already assessed by way of regular assessment in respect of the total income of any previous year, the Assessing Officer, if he is of opinion that such person is liable to pay advance tax, may, at any time during the financial year but not later than the last day of February, by order in writing, require such person to pay advance tax calculated in the manner laid down in section 209, and issue to such person a notice of demand under section 156 specifying the instalment or instalments in which such tax is to be paid.
(4) If, after the making of an order by the Assessing Officer under sub-section (3) and at any time before the 1st day of March, a return of income is furnished by the assessee under section 139 or in response to a notice under sub-section (1) of section 142, or a regular assessment of the assessee is made in respect of a previous year later than that referred to in sub-section (3), the Assessing Officer may make an amended order and issue to such assessee a notice of demand under section 156 requiring the assessee to pay, on or before the due date or each of the due dates specified in section 211 falling after the date of the amended order, the appropriate percentage, specified in section 211, of the advance tax computed on the basis of the total income declared in such return or in respect of which the regular assessment aforesaid has been made.
(5) A person who is served with an order of the Assessing Officer under sub-section (3) or an amended order under sub-section (4) may, if in his estimation the advance tax payable on his current income would be less than the amount of the advance tax specified in such order or amended order, send an intimation in the prescribed form to the Assessing Officer to that effect and pay such advance tax as accords with his estimate, calculated in the manner laid down in section 209, at the appropriate percentage thereof specified in section 211, on or before the due date or each of the due dates specified in section 211 falling after the date of such intimation.
(6) A person who is served with an order of the Assessing Officer under sub-section (3) or amended order under sub-section (4) shall, if in his estimation the advance tax payable on his current income would exceed the amount of advance tax specified in such order or amended order or intimated by him under sub-section (5), pay on or before the due date of the last instalment specified in section 211, the appropriate part or, as the case may be, the whole of such higher amount of advance tax as accords with his estimate, calculated in the manner laid down in section 209.
C. AUTHORITIES
Section 210 is largely machinery; reported litigation is limited and concerns chiefly the Assessing Officer's residual power under sub-sections (3)/(4) and the assessee's right of self-estimate. The candour rule is observed. All citations have been web-verified.
Cluster 1 - The scheme of self-payment and the Assessing Officer's order
The section's own text is rarely the direct subject of merits litigation; the authorities below fix the scheme within which it operates.
Modi Industries Ltd. v. CIT (1995) 216 ITR 759 (SC)
Relevance: Explains that advance tax paid under section 210 - whether of the assessee's own accord or in pursuance of an order - is, on regular assessment, treated as payment of tax and credited under section 219, and fixes the meaning of "regular assessment" that an order under sub-section (3) presupposes.
Use: Locates section 210 within the collection-and-credit scheme of the Chapter.
CIT v. Anjum M. H. Ghaswala (2001) 252 ITR 1 (SC) [Constitution Bench]
Relevance: Confirms the mandatory character of the advance-tax obligation that section 210 operationalises; default carries automatic interest under sections 234B/234C, not waivable as a matter of discretion.
Use: Underlines that the section 210 duty is not optional once section 208 is attracted.
Compiled for the bharattax.co Treatise on the Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended by the Finance Act, 2026). Statutory text is reproduced verbatim from the bare Act; case-law citations have been web-verified. Where a section is omitted, spent or substantially unlitigated, the candour rule is observed - the absence of direct authority is stated and only genuinely cognate authority is offered. This digest is for professional reference and is not a substitute for the official report of any judgment.