How to use the income tax calculator
Choose your age group, then enter your gross salary for the year, any other income such as interest, and your employer’s NPS contribution if you have one. Under old regime deductions, add what you actually claim: your HRA exemption, 80C investments, health insurance, your own NPS and home loan interest. The calculator applies each limit for you and shows both regimes line by line.
New regime tax slabs for FY 2026-27
Income up to ₹4 lakh is not taxed. The rate is 5% from ₹4 lakh to ₹8 lakh, 10% to ₹12 lakh, 15% to ₹16 lakh, 20% to ₹20 lakh, 25% to ₹24 lakh, and 30% above that. Salaried people get a ₹75,000 standard deduction, and almost no other deduction applies. Budget 2026 left these rates unchanged, so they match FY 2025-26.
Old regime tax slabs for FY 2026-27
Income up to ₹2.5 lakh is not taxed, rising to ₹3 lakh for those aged 60 to 79 and ₹5 lakh from 80. The rate is 5% up to ₹5 lakh, 20% up to ₹10 lakh and 30% above. The standard deduction is ₹50,000, but the old regime keeps the deductions the new one dropped: HRA, 80C up to ₹1.5 lakh, health insurance, NPS and home loan interest.
Why a ₹12.75 lakh salary pays no tax
Under the new regime, a rebate of up to ₹60,000 cancels the tax on taxable income up to ₹12 lakh. Add the ₹75,000 standard deduction and a salary of ₹12.75 lakh pays nothing. Just above the line, marginal relief stops a cliff: on taxable income of ₹12.1 lakh the slabs give ₹61,500, but the tax cannot exceed the ₹10,000 earned above ₹12 lakh, so you pay ₹10,400 with cess.
Which regime should you choose?
It depends on how much you can deduct. On a ₹15 lakh salary with only ₹1.5 lakh in 80C, the new regime costs ₹97,500 and the old ₹2,10,600, a saving of ₹1,13,100. You would need about ₹3.9 lakh more in deductions before the old regime caught up. Add an HRA exemption of ₹2.04 lakh, ₹25,000 of health insurance, ₹50,000 of NPS and ₹2 lakh of home loan interest, and the old regime drops to ₹79,768, now ₹17,732 cheaper.