Methodology
Every figure comes from the slab engine behind the income tax calculator, run at each salary from ₹5 lakh to ₹50 lakh in steps of ₹1 lakh, and at ₹1,000 steps for the threshold figures. The taxpayer is a resident individual below 60 with salary income only.
- New regime: slabs of 0% to ₹4 lakh, 5% to ₹8 lakh, 10% to ₹12 lakh, 15% to ₹16 lakh, 20% to ₹20 lakh, 25% to ₹24 lakh and 30% above, after a ₹75,000 standard deduction. Section 87A rebate up to ₹60,000 for taxable income up to ₹12 lakh, with marginal relief above it. Budget 2026 left these unchanged from FY 2025-26.
- Old regime: 0% to ₹2.5 lakh, 5% to ₹5 lakh, 20% to ₹10 lakh and 30% above, after a ₹50,000 standard deduction, with the ₹12,500 rebate up to ₹5 lakh of taxable income. "Typical deductions" are Section 80C ₹1,50,000, Section 80D health insurance ₹25,000, NPS under 80CCD(1B) ₹50,000.
- Cess: 4% health and education cess on the tax after rebate and relief, in both regimes.
- Excluded: surcharge, which starts above ₹50 lakh of taxable income and is why the range stops there; EPF; professional tax; HRA, LTA and home-loan interest; and senior-citizen slabs.
- Checks: the engine is covered by automated tests on slab boundaries, the ₹12.75 lakh zero-tax ceiling, the marginal relief band and the published CSV, which must match the engine output for the build to pass.
Using the figures for your own salary
The table answers "how much tax at ₹X lakh" for a plain salary. For your actual payslip, three things move the number. EPF takes 12% of basic from your take-home but not from your tax. HRA can be the single largest old-regime deduction and is the usual reason the old regime wins for renters in metros; the HRA calculator works it out. And if you have home-loan interest under Section 24, add it to the deduction total and compare against the break-even column. The regime comparison tool does that comparison with your own deductions, and the salary calculator turns a CTC into monthly in-hand pay.