Challan 280 (ITNS 280)
Challan 280 (ITNS 280) is the challan for paying income tax online — advance tax (code 100), self-assessment (300) and regular assessment (400).
Definition
Challan 280, formally ITNS 280, is the challan used to pay income tax other than TDS — advance tax, self-assessment tax, tax on regular assessment (a demand raised by the department), and surcharge. Each payment type has a 'minor head' code you must select correctly: 100 for Advance Tax, 300 for Self-Assessment Tax, and 400 for Tax on Regular Assessment.
Any taxpayer paying their own income tax uses it: salaried people clearing a balance before filing, freelancers and businesses paying quarterly advance tax, or anyone paying a demand notice. Companies select the head 'Corporation Tax (0020)'; everyone else selects 'Income Tax (Other than Companies) (0021)'.
The old OLTAS payment flow on the TIN-NSDL website has been discontinued; all Challan 280 payments are now made through the e-Pay Tax service on incometax.gov.in. Go to e-Pay Tax (pre-login with PAN + OTP, or after login), choose Income Tax, pick the assessment year (AY 2026-27 for FY 2025-26 income) and the correct minor head, then pay via net banking, debit card, payment gateway (UPI/credit card), NEFT/RTGS or at a bank counter. Download the challan receipt — its BSR code, date and serial number go into your ITR.
Pitfalls: choosing the wrong assessment year or wrong minor head (a 300-vs-400 mix-up is the classic error and needs a challan correction request to fix), and paying under the wrong PAN. Note that from the new Income-tax Act 2025 regime (effective 1 April 2026) the portal also shows the equivalent challan as ITNS 280N, but the e-Pay Tax steps are the same.
Example
In March 2026, Arjun paid his final advance-tax instalment through e-Pay Tax by selecting Challan 280 with minor head 100 and AY 2026-27, then saved the challan receipt for his ITR.
Calculators that use this
Advance Tax
Compute your quarterly advance tax installments — 15%, 45%, 75%, 100% by 15 Jun/Sep/Dec/Mar — to avoid section 234B and 234C interest.
Open calculatorIncome Tax India
Calculate India income tax under both Old and New regimes side-by-side. See which regime saves more, with 87A rebate, cess, and standard deduction applied.
Open calculatorRelated terms
More Tax terms
Sources
See all 60 glossary terms or read our Methodology for how we source these definitions.