March year-end tax planning — 18 actions before 31 March
The last 2-3 weeks of March is when most year-end tax planning gets done — or missed. This checklist covers everything that matters: investments to complete, advance tax to top-up, MSME payments to clear, books to lock. Skip even three of these and you'll leave money on the table — or invite a notice.
For salaried & individual taxpayers
Complete 80C investments — by 31 March
If you're on old regime: top-up PPF, ELSS, NSC, LIC, tax-saving FDs, principal-repayment of home loan — anything that brings 80C to ₹1,50,000. Each ₹1,000 you under-utilise wastes 30% of itself in tax (your slab).
By 31 March 2026NPS 80CCD(1B) — additional ₹50,000
NPS Tier-I contribution over and above 80C — a clean extra ₹50K deduction in the old regime. Open a Tier-I account on the eNPS portal in under 10 minutes if you don't have one.
By 31 March 2026Health insurance renewal — 80D check
Renew self + family policies (₹25K) and parent policies (₹25K under 60 / ₹50K senior). Pay before 31 March to claim in FY 2025-26.
By 31 March 2026Top up advance tax — fourth instalment
15 March was the 100% instalment date. If you missed or under-paid: pay via Challan 280 (self-assessment tax). Otherwise Sec 234B/C interest @ 1% per month accumulates. Use our calculator to estimate.
By 31 March 2026Donate (80G) before year-end
Donations to eligible institutions are deductible at 50% or 100% depending on the institution's status. Get the 80G certificate AND ensure the donee files Form 10BD by 31 May — otherwise the donor's pre-filled 80G won't show in AIS.
By 31 March 2026Realise long-term capital losses to offset gains
If you have LTCG above ₹1.25L (exempt) and unrealised long-term equity losses, consider tax-loss harvesting — sell losers to offset winners. Losses can be set off against gains within the same head, or carried forward 8 years.
By 31 March 2026Lock in regime if business/profession
If you file ITR-3 or ITR-4 and want to opt in/out of the new regime, Form 10-IEA must be filed before the ITR due date. Make the call before March closes — re-opting in is only allowed once after opt-out.
Before ITR due dateHRA rent — get receipts + landlord PAN
If claiming HRA and annual rent > ₹1L, landlord's PAN is mandatory on Form 12BB. Collect this from your landlord NOW — many landlords are slow to share. If rent > ₹50K/month, you should also have deducted TDS @ 5% u/s 194-IB.
By 31 March 2026For business owners & founders
Clear all MSME-supplier dues — Sec 43B(h)
Any invoice from a Micro/Small enterprise (Udyam-registered) that's beyond 15 days (no agreement) or 45 days (with agreement) becomes non-deductible if unpaid by year-end. Pay now to avoid a year-end disallowance.
By 31 March 2026Provision for known expenses
Year-end provisioning for audit fees, professional fees, bonus to employees, retention bonuses. Provision booked by 31 March is deductible in the same FY (subject to TDS deduction). Wait until April and you lose a year of deduction.
By 31 March 2026TDS deposit for March payments
Unlike other months (deposit by 7th of next month), March TDS is due by 30 April. Plan the cash outflow. Don't get caught with March-end salary credited but TDS not deposited.
By 30 April 2026Stock take + physical verification
Year-end stock count is mandatory for statutory audit. Schedule it for 31 March or the next working day. Photograph the count. Reconcile book stock to physical. Identify slow-moving / obsolete stock for provisioning.
31 March / 1 April 2026Confirm AR aging + bad-debt write-off
Receivables > 12 months: review for write-off. Bad debts allowable u/s 36(1)(vii) only when actually written off in books — not "provided for". The auditor will look at this specifically.
By 31 March 2026Asset additions — bring P&M to use before 30 September
For new plant & machinery to claim full-year depreciation u/s 32, the asset must be put to use within 180 days of acquisition (cutoff: 3 October for FY 2025-26). If after that, only half depreciation in year 1. Useful planning lever if you're considering Q4 capex.
3 October 2026 (next FY)For everyone — pre-filing season
Pre-validate bank account for refund
From AY 2023-24, refunds are credited only to pre-validated bank accounts linked to PAN. Log into the e-filing portal → Profile → Bank Account → Validate. Takes 24-48 hours.
Before filing ITRPAN-Aadhaar link verification
If not linked, PAN becomes inoperative — TDS refunds get stuck, ITR rejected. Pay ₹1,000 penalty and link now if you haven't.
ImmediatelyDownload AIS in mid-April for sanity-check
AIS is finalised by ~15 April. Download and skim it — flag any obviously wrong entries (double-counted broker trades, mis-categorised income). File AIS feedback online before you file your ITR.
After 15 April 2026Schedule FA prep (if you have foreign assets)
Compile statements as of 31 December 2025 for all foreign bank accounts, brokerage accounts, RSUs, crypto on foreign exchanges, 401(k), foreign mutual funds. Required for Schedule FA in ITR. Non-disclosure attracts ₹10L penalty under Black Money Act.
For ITR filingThe pre-March sequencing
If you're reading this in the third week of March, here's the optimal sequencing:
| Date | What to do |
|---|---|
| By 25 March | Complete 80C, 80CCD(1B), 80D investments. Pay all MSE vendor dues. Year-end provisioning. |
| 26-30 March | Top-up advance tax. Realise capital losses. Donate (80G). Lock down regime choice if business income. |
| 31 March | Stock count. Physical verification. Year-end snapshot of all books. |
| 1-15 April | Books closing. Wait for AIS finalisation. |
| 15-30 April | Download AIS, file feedback. March TDS deposit by 30 April. |
| May-June | Form 16 generation, TDS Q4 return (31 May), employee tax declarations for next year. |
Where founders get burned in March
Three patterns we see year after year:
- MSME Sec 43B(h) surprise — finance team didn't track Udyam-registered vendors. ₹50L-2Cr expense gets disallowed at year-end.
- Year-end provisioning skipped — audit fees, bonus, professional fees not provisioned. Deduction lost for that FY.
- Stock take not done — auditor qualifies the report or pushes timeline. RBI inspection issues if bank-financed.
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