Income Tax Calculator

Compare your income tax under the new and old regimes for tax year 2026-27, with rebate, surcharge and cess worked out.

Annual income: gross salary (including employer NPS) plus other income (₹)

Your age

Income type

Old regime: 80C investments (max ₹1,50,000)

Old regime: 80D health insurance, self & family (max ₹25,000; ₹50,000 if 60+)

Old regime: 80D for parents (max ₹25,000; ₹50,000 if they are 60+)

Old regime: own NPS, 80CCD(1B) (max ₹50,000)

Old regime: HRA exemption (from the HRA calculator)

Old regime: home loan interest, self-occupied (max ₹2,00,000)

Old regime: other deductions (80E, 80G…)

Employer's NPS contribution per year (₹)

Annual basic + DA (needed only for employer NPS)

Employer (for the NPS limit)

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This calculator works out your income tax for Tax Year 2026-27 (April 2026 to March 2027) under both regimes side by side and shows which costs less. It suits resident salaried employees and pensioners checking their TDS, and freelancers estimating what they owe.

What goes into each box

Annual income is gross salary, including any employer NPS contribution, plus taxable interest and other normal income. Enter let-out rent at 70% of the rent net of municipal tax, and freelance income as profit, not receipts. Under Income type, "Salaried or pensioner" brings the standard deduction of ₹75,000 (new regime) or ₹50,000 (old); "Not salaried" gets neither.

The seven "Old regime" boxes do not affect the new regime, and each is cut to the limit in its label:

80C (EPF, PPF, ELSS, life cover): ₹1.5 lakh.
80D for self and family: ₹25,000, or ₹50,000 if you are 60+. 80D for parents: ₹25,000, or ₹50,000 if they are 60+; the tool allows ₹50,000 without asking their age.
Own NPS under 80CCD(1B): ₹50,000, over and above 80C.
Home loan interest (self-occupied): ₹2 lakh for a loan to buy or build a house finished within five years; enter no more than ₹30,000 for repair loans and other cases.
HRA exemption: only the tax-free part of your HRA, from the HRA exemption calculator.
Other deductions such as 80E education-loan interest and 80G donations.

Employer's NPS contribution is deducted in both regimes, but section 16(k) of the new Act first counts it as salary, so keep it inside Annual income; an NPS figure above your income is rejected. The tool then needs Annual basic + DA: the cap is 14% of it in the new regime and, by Employer, 10% (private) or 14% (government) in the old. With ₹1,20,000 on ₹10 lakh basic at a private firm, the new regime deducts it all and the old regime ₹1,00,000. "Not salaried" ignores employer NPS. Each card shows the total as "Deductions used".

Slabs, rebate and surcharge for Tax Year 2026-27

The Income-tax Act, 2025 took over from 1 April 2026 with the FY 2025-26 slabs, rebate and standard deduction unchanged.

New regime taxable income	Rate
Up to ₹4 lakh	Nil
₹4–8 lakh	5%
₹8–12 lakh	10%
₹12–16 lakh	15%
₹16–20 lakh	20%
₹20–24 lakh	25%
Above ₹24 lakh	30%

The new regime (Section 115BAC, now section 202) is the default, with the same slabs at every age, and the 87A rebate (now section 156) cancels tax of up to ₹60,000 when taxable income is ₹12 lakh or less. The old regime charges 5% from ₹2.5 lakh to ₹5 lakh, 20% up to ₹10 lakh and 30% beyond; its nil band rises to ₹3 lakh at 60 and ₹5 lakh at 80, and its rebate is ₹12,500 up to ₹5 lakh. Surcharge runs from 10% above ₹50 lakh to 25% in the new regime (37% above ₹5 crore in the old), with marginal relief; 4% cess goes on top.

Worked example: ₹15 lakh salary with basic deductions

A 32-year-old earns ₹15,00,000, puts ₹1,50,000 into 80C and pays ₹25,000 for a family health policy:

New regime: ₹15,00,000 − ₹75,000 = ₹14,25,000 taxable. Slab tax is ₹20,000 + ₹40,000 + ₹33,750 (15% of ₹2.25 lakh) = ₹93,750, and cess of ₹3,750 makes it ₹97,500, or ₹8,125 a month (6.5% effective).
Old regime: deductions used are ₹2,25,000 (₹50,000 + ₹1,50,000 + ₹25,000), leaving ₹12,75,000 taxable. Slab tax is ₹12,500 + ₹1,00,000 + ₹82,500 (30% of ₹2.75 lakh) = ₹1,95,000, and ₹2,02,800 after cess.

The new regime is cheaper by ₹1,05,300. Near the rebate line, ₹12,75,000 of salary pays nil in the new regime while ₹12,85,000 pays ₹10,400: marginal relief caps the tax at the ₹10,000 by which taxable income crosses ₹12 lakh, plus ₹400 cess.

How much in deductions makes the old regime cheaper?

With an ₹18 lakh salary, a ₹2,40,000 HRA exemption, ₹2 lakh of home-loan interest, ₹1.5 lakh in 80C, ₹25,000 under 80D and ₹50,000 under 80CCD(1B), the old-regime card shows ₹7,15,000 of deductions used and ₹1,43,520 of tax, against ₹1,50,800 in the new regime: ₹6.65 lakh of deductions buys a lead of only ₹7,280.

Deductions a salaried person under 60 needs beyond the standard deduction, excluding employer NPS, before the old regime wins:

Gross salary	Old regime is lower only with
₹10 lakh	Never: ₹4.5 lakh only ties at nil
₹12.75 lakh	Never: ₹7.25 lakh only ties at nil
₹15 lakh	more than about ₹5.44 lakh
₹20 lakh	more than about ₹7.08 lakh
₹25 lakh to ₹50 lakh	more than ₹8 lakh

Up to a ₹12.75 lakh salary the new regime already costs nothing, so the old regime can at best tie. Above that, beating it usually takes a large HRA claim, home-loan interest or both.

What the estimate leaves out

Capital gains and other special-rate income; non-residents.
Any check on the HRA exemption and other-deduction boxes: they are used as entered.
TDS and advance tax already paid.

Treat the output as an estimate for planning, not tax advice.

Picking a regime and switching later

With no business income, you pick the regime in each year's return, whatever you told your employer for TDS, but only in a return filed by the due date (31 July for most salaried people); a belated return is taxed under the new regime. With business or professional income, the old-regime option carries forward and can be withdrawn only once. For monthly take-home pay, use the in-hand salary calculator.

Frequently asked questions

Is income up to ₹12 lakh tax-free in Tax Year 2026-27?

Under the new regime, yes for residents, because the rebate covers tax of up to ₹60,000 when taxable income is ₹12 lakh or less, and the ₹75,000 standard deduction stretches this to a salary of ₹12.75 lakh. Capital gains taxed at special rates get no rebate and still count toward the ₹12 lakh limit, so gains can take you past it.

Which tax regime is better for ₹15 lakh salary?

With only 80C and a basic health policy, the new regime costs about ₹1.05 lakh less. The old regime wins only if your deductions beyond the standard deduction go above roughly ₹5.44 lakh.

How much tax will I pay on ₹20 lakh salary in the new regime?

About ₹1,92,400 including cess, roughly ₹16,033 a month, with no employer NPS. If ₹1 lakh of the ₹20 lakh goes into NPS through your employer instead of as cash salary, and your basic + DA is at least ₹7.15 lakh so the 14% cap covers it, tax falls to ₹1,71,600. NPS paid on top of the ₹20 lakh is added to salary and then deducted, so the tax stays the same.

Why does the calculator ask for my basic salary?

Only to apply the employer NPS limit, which is a percentage of basic + DA: 14% in the new regime, and 10% for private employers or 14% for government employers in the old regime. If you enter an employer NPS amount without basic, the calculator asks for it. With no employer NPS you can leave it blank.

Can I change my tax regime every year?

Yes, if you have no business or professional income: you choose in the return, whatever you declared to your employer, but only if you file it by the due date (31 July for most salaried people), since a late return is taxed under the new regime. People with business income can withdraw the old-regime option only once.

What is marginal relief in the new tax regime?

When taxable income is a little above ₹12 lakh, the tax cannot be more than the amount by which income crosses ₹12 lakh. This relief runs out at about ₹12.71 lakh of taxable income.

What is Section 87A called under the Income-tax Act 2025?

The rebate is now in section 156, and the new regime itself is section 202 instead of 115BAC. The amounts are unchanged, and most payslips and articles still use the old section numbers.

Do senior citizens get a higher exemption in the new regime?

No. The new regime uses the same slabs at every age. The higher basic exemption of ₹3 lakh at 60 and ₹5 lakh at 80 exists only in the old regime, which also raises the 80D limit for your own policy to ₹50,000.