Income Tax Calculator — India, FY 2026-27

How to use this income tax calculator

This income tax calculator computes your FY 2026-27 (Assessment Year 2027-28) tax liability under both the old and new regime and shows which regime saves you more money on your specific deduction profile. Five inputs decide everything:

1. Gross annual salary — total CTC including basic, HRA, special allowance, bonuses. Our income tax calculator adds the standard deduction automatically (₹75,000 new regime / ₹50,000 old regime) for salaried taxpayers.
2. Age group — below 60, senior (60-79) or super-senior (80+). Old regime uses higher basic-exemption limits for seniors (₹3L / ₹5L). New regime has no age-based differentiation.
3. Other income — interest from FDs, savings account, rental, freelance, or any non-salary income. These add to your slab income and drive up the tax.
4. Section 80C-80E deductions — only relevant under the old regime. The income tax calculator disables the deduction inputs when the new regime is active to prevent confusion.
5. Regime toggle — flip between old and new to see side-by-side tax numbers. The “Old vs New regime” comparison panel updates the moment you change any input.

Every field auto-saves to the URL — share the URL with a spouse, chartered accountant, or bookmark it for next year to return to your exact numbers without re-entering.

How the FY 2026-27 income tax calculator works

India runs two parallel personal-income-tax regimes for individuals: the older slab structure with a wide deduction menu (commonly called the “old regime”), and a simplified concessional slab structure with a narrower deduction menu (the “new regime,” also called the default regime since FY 2023-24). This income tax calculator computes your liability in either regime using the slab rates, rebate limits, surcharge tiers and Health & Education Cess as they stand for the assessment year 2027-28 (financial year 2026-27).

Slabs — old regime (individuals below 60)

• Up to ₹2,50,000 — 0%
• ₹2,50,001 to ₹5,00,000 — 5%
• ₹5,00,001 to ₹10,00,000 — 20%
• Above ₹10,00,000 — 30%

Senior citizens (60 to 79 years) get a higher exemption of ₹3,00,000 and super-senior citizens (80+) of ₹5,00,000, with the same upper-slab rates. There is also a Section 87A rebate of up to ₹12,500 that takes the tax to zero for any taxpayer whose total taxable income is at or below ₹5,00,000.

Slabs — new regime (FY 2026-27, all ages)

• Up to ₹3,00,000 — 0%
• ₹3,00,001 to ₹7,00,000 — 5%
• ₹7,00,001 to ₹10,00,000 — 10%
• ₹10,00,001 to ₹12,00,000 — 15%
• ₹12,00,001 to ₹15,00,000 — 20%
• Above ₹15,00,000 — 30%

Section 87A in the new regime grants a higher rebate of up to ₹25,000, with the threshold raised to ₹7,00,000 of taxable income. Marginal relief applies to income just above ₹7,00,000 — the additional tax cannot exceed the additional income above the threshold, which is why our calculator may show ₹100 of tax on an income of ₹7,00,100 instead of the slab rate.

Standard deduction and Section 80CCD(2)

Salaried taxpayers and pensioners receive a standard deduction without any documentation: ₹50,000 in the old regime and ₹75,000 in the new regime (the latter raised in Budget 2024 from ₹50,000 to ₹75,000 specifically to make the new regime more attractive). For the full rule set, Section 16(ia) statutory reference, and worked examples across salary bands, see our detailed standard deduction old vs new tax regime FY 2026-27 India guide. Employer contributions to NPS under Section 80CCD(2) are also allowed in the new regime — up to 10 percent of basic for private-sector employees and 14 percent for central or state government employees. We treat 80CCD(2) outside this calculator because it is computed at the salary-component level rather than the gross-income level; our salary take-home calculator handles it.

Old-regime deductions worth knowing

The new regime trades simplicity for higher taxes (or sometimes lower, depending on your deduction profile). The old regime stays competitive when the following deductions stack up:

• Section 80C — combined ₹1.5 lakh cap covering EPF, PPF, tax-saving FDs, ELSS mutual funds, life insurance premiums, NPS Tier-1 via 80CCD(1), tuition fees for up to two children, principal repayment on a home loan, and Sukanya Samriddhi deposits.
• Section 80CCD(1B) — an additional ₹50,000 of NPS Tier-1 contribution above the 80C cap. This is the only Chapter VI-A deduction that stacks cleanly on top of 80C.
• Section 80D — health insurance premiums for self, spouse, children (₹25,000 cap) and parents (additional ₹25,000, raised to ₹50,000 if parents are senior citizens). A preventive health check-up is deductible up to ₹5,000 within these caps.
• Section 80E — interest paid on an education loan, with no rupee cap, available for eight years from the year you start repayment.
• Section 80TTA / 80TTB — savings-account interest is exempt up to ₹10,000 for non-seniors via 80TTA; 80TTB grants a wider ₹50,000 exemption for senior citizens covering both savings and FD interest.
• Section 24(b) — interest on a home loan, capped at ₹2 lakh for a self-occupied property. Let-out property has no cap, but the overall loss from house property is restricted to ₹2 lakh against other income with the balance carried forward eight years.
• HRA exemption — least of (actual HRA, 50%/40% of basic salary for metro/non-metro, rent paid minus 10% of basic). The new regime does not allow HRA exemption at all, which is the single biggest hit it takes for rented-accommodation employees in metros.

Surcharge and marginal relief

On top of slab tax, India levies a percentage surcharge that scales with total taxable income:

• Above ₹50 lakh — 10%
• Above ₹1 crore — 15%
• Above ₹2 crore — 25%
• Above ₹5 crore — 37% (old regime only — the new regime caps at 25%)

The Budget 2023 cap on the new regime at 25% surcharge means that very-high- income earners (above ₹5 crore taxable) pay measurably less tax under the new regime than the old, even before considering the new regime’s narrower deduction menu. At each surcharge threshold, marginal relief ensures that the additional surcharge cannot exceed the additional income above the threshold. This is why a taxpayer at ₹50,00,001 of income owes only about ₹1 of surcharge (not the full 10%): the entire incremental rupee is absorbed by relief.

Health & Education Cess

A flat 4% Health & Education Cess is applied on the sum of slab tax and surcharge in both regimes. For most middle-income earners, this cess is the difference between, say, ₹62,500 and ₹65,000 of total liability — small in rupee terms but it stacks on every rupee of tax you owe.

Choosing between the regimes

Use the regime comparison view above to see your actual numbers side by side. As a rule of thumb (subject to your own deduction profile):

• Old regime usually wins when you fully use 80C (₹1.5L), claim the ₹50K NPS top-up, have ₹2L of home-loan interest and a healthy HRA exemption — the combined deduction often crosses ₹4–5 lakh, which brings taxable income low enough that the old regime’s wider 20% bracket and lower cess base are favourable.
• New regime usually wins when you do not own a home, do not rent in a high-rent metro, do not max out 80C, or simply want a fuss-free return with no documentation. The break-even income shifts each year as standard deduction and slab rates change; for FY 2026-27 it sits roughly at ₹15 lakh CTC for someone with no major deductions and around ₹25 lakh for someone fully utilising the old-regime menu.

The choice is reversible every year for salaried taxpayers (you can switch between regimes annually), but business or professional income is locked once opted out of the new regime — switching back is a one-time option only.

What this calculator does not cover

We focus on slab tax, rebate, surcharge, cess and the core Chapter VI-A deductions for salaried and pensioner individuals. The following are out of scope and handled in dedicated calculators (or omitted by design):

• Capital gains — STCG/LTCG on equity, debt, property and gold have separate rate structures (12.5% LTCG above ₹1.25L equity exemption, 20% STCG on equity post-Budget 2024, slab rate on debt MFs bought after 1-Apr- 2023, taxpayer-choice 12.5%/20%-with-indexation on pre-23-Jul-2024 property). Use our capital gains calculator for those.
• Crypto income — 30% flat with no set-off and 1% TDS — handled by the crypto tax calculator.
• Lottery / game-show winnings — 30% flat, no deductions, taxed separately from slab income.
• Agricultural income — exempt from income tax but used for the aggregation method to determine the slab for non-agri income above ₹5,000.
• Foreign income / DTAA — non-resident and resident-but-not- ordinarily-resident statuses change the picture entirely; treaty benefits require separate analysis.

Worked example — ₹15 lakh CTC, salaried, both regimes

Take a salaried employee in Mumbai earning ₹15,00,000 gross, contributing ₹1,50,000 to PPF (80C), ₹50,000 to NPS Tier-1 (80CCD(1B)), ₹25,000 to a family health-insurance plan (80D), and paying ₹2,00,000 of interest on a home loan for a self-occupied property (Section 24(b)). HRA exemption is zero (owned home).

• Old regime — std deduction ₹50,000, total deductions ₹4,75,000, taxable income ₹10,25,000. Slab tax = ₹12,500 (5% on 2.5L) + ₹1,00,000 (20% on 5L) + ₹7,500 (30% on 25K) = ₹1,20,000. Cess at 4% = ₹4,800. Total tax = ₹1,24,800.
• New regime — std deduction ₹75,000, no other deductions allowed, taxable income ₹14,25,000. Slab tax = ₹20,000 + ₹30,000 + ₹30,000 + ₹45,000 = ₹1,25,000. Cess at 4% = ₹5,000. Total tax = ₹1,30,000.

Old regime saves ₹5,200 here. Without the home loan interest, however, the comparison flips — strip out ₹2,00,000 of Section 24(b) and old-regime taxable income jumps to ₹12,25,000, slab tax to ₹1,80,000, total ₹1,87,200. Now new regime saves ₹57,200. The home loan is the swing factor.

Worked example — ₹8 lakh CTC, salaried, new-regime wins easily

Junior-to-mid salaried employee, ₹8,00,000 gross, renting in a metro (₹18,000/month), ₹50,000 to PPF, ₹15,000 health insurance. Run through the income tax calculator:

• Old regime — std deduction ₹50,000, 80C ₹50,000, 80D ₹15,000, HRA exemption (rough estimate) ₹1,20,000. Total deductions ₹2,35,000. Taxable income ₹5,65,000. Slab tax = ₹12,500 + ₹13,000 = ₹25,500. Cess 4% = ₹1,020. Total ₹26,520.
• New regime — std deduction ₹75,000. Taxable income ₹7,25,000. Slab tax = ₹20,000 + ₹2,500 = ₹22,500. Post-87A rebate (taxable ≤ ₹7L gives full rebate; here ₹7.25L has marginal relief) = ₹25,000 approx. Cess 4% = ₹1,000. Total ~₹26,000.

Essentially break-even here, but the new regime wins by ~₹500 and saves you all the documentation for 80C / HRA proofs. For most early-career salaried in this band, new regime is the default choice.

Worked example — ₹25 lakh CTC, fully-maxed-out old regime

Senior manager, ₹25,00,000 gross, renting in Bangalore (₹45,000/month), ₹1,50,000 PPF, ₹50,000 NPS Tier-1, ₹75,000 family health insurance (self + senior parents), ₹2,00,000 home-loan interest on let-out property, ₹10,000 savings-interest (80TTA).

• Old regime — std deduction ₹50,000, 80C ₹1,50,000, 80CCD(1B) ₹50,000, 80D ₹75,000 (₹25K self + ₹50K senior parents), Section 24(b) ₹2,00,000, HRA exemption (40% of basic minus 10% of basic = ~₹3,00,000), 80TTA ₹10,000. Total deductions ₹8,35,000. Taxable income ₹16,65,000. Slab tax = ₹12,500 + ₹1,00,000 + ₹1,99,500 = ₹3,12,000. Cess 4% = ₹12,480. Total ₹3,24,480.
• New regime — std deduction ₹75,000. Taxable income ₹24,25,000. Slab tax = ₹20,000 + ₹30,000 + ₹30,000 + ₹60,000 + ₹2,25,000 + ₹1,00,000 = ₹4,65,000. Cess 4% = ₹18,600. Total ₹4,83,600.

Old regime saves ₹1,59,120/year here — a massive gap driven by HRA in a high-rent metro + full 80C + home-loan interest. The calculus flips only if HRA exemption or Section 24(b) drops out (e.g., moved to own home + paid off the loan).

Worked example — ₹50 lakh CTC, surcharge + marginal relief

Director-level salaried, ₹50,00,000 gross, owns home (no HRA), ₹1,50,000 PPF, ₹50,000 NPS Tier-1, ₹25,000 health insurance, ₹2,00,000 home-loan interest on self-occupied property.

• Old regime — std deduction ₹50,000, total deductions ₹4,75,000. Taxable ₹45,25,000. Slab tax = ₹12,500 + ₹1,00,000 + ₹10,57,500 = ₹11,70,000. Surcharge not applicable (below ₹50L threshold). Cess 4% = ₹46,800. Total ₹12,16,800.
• New regime — std deduction ₹75,000. Taxable ₹49,25,000. Slab tax = ₹20,000 + ₹30,000 + ₹30,000 + ₹60,000 + ₹2,00,000 + ₹6,97,500 = ₹10,37,500. Surcharge not applicable. Cess 4% = ₹41,500. Total ₹10,79,000.

New regime saves ₹1,37,800 here. Counterintuitive for high earners? Without a heavy HRA or multiple home loans, the new regime’s wider 20% and 25% slabs overpower the old regime’s Section 24(b) + 80C benefits. Bump taxable income to ₹50,00,001 in the old regime and the surcharge kicks in (10%), but marginal relief caps the extra hit at ~₹1 (not ₹1.17L).

Decision framework — old vs new regime by profile

This table is a rule of thumb — your exact break-even depends on your specific deduction mix. Run both regimes in the income tax calculator above before you make the call.

Section-by-section deduction reference (old regime)

Every Chapter VI-A deduction the income tax calculator supports, with caps and eligibility at a glance:

• Section 80C — ₹1,50,000 cap. Covers EPF (12% of basic), PPF, ELSS mutual funds, tax-saver FDs (5-year lock-in), life insurance premiums (up to 10% of sum assured for policies issued post-Apr-2012), NPS Tier-1 via 80CCD(1), home-loan principal repayment, tuition fees for up to 2 children, Sukanya Samriddhi, senior citizen savings scheme.
• Section 80CCD(1B) — additional ₹50,000 cap. NPS Tier-1 contribution above and beyond 80C. Stacks cleanly. Only triggered on explicit NPS contribution — EPF does not count.
• Section 80D — up to ₹1,00,000 stacked. Health insurance: ₹25,000 for self/spouse/children (below 60) or ₹50,000 (senior). Additional ₹25,000 for parents (below 60) or ₹50,000 (senior parents). Preventive health check-up ₹5,000 inside these caps.
• Section 80E — no cap, 8 years. Interest on education loan for self, spouse, children. No rupee limit. Deduction starts year you begin repayment; runs for 8 years or until loan ends, whichever is earlier.
• Section 80TTA — ₹10,000 cap. Savings account interest (bank, post office, co-op bank). Below-60 taxpayers only.
• Section 80TTB — ₹50,000 cap. Savings + FD + RD interest for senior citizens (60+). Much wider than 80TTA.
• Section 24(b) — ₹2,00,000 cap. Home-loan interest for self-occupied property. Let-out property: no cap on interest, but overall loss against other income is restricted to ₹2,00,000; balance carries forward 8 years.
• Section 80EEA — additional ₹1,50,000 cap. First-time home buyers on sub-₹45L stamp-value properties, for loans sanctioned in the notified eligibility window. Stacks on top of Section 24(b).
• HRA exemption (Section 10(13A)). Least of (a) actual HRA received, (b) rent paid minus 10% of basic, (c) 50% of basic (metro) / 40% of basic (non-metro). Rent receipts required if annual rent > ₹1L; landlord PAN required if rent > ₹1L/year. Completely disallowed under new regime.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Assuming the new regime is always simpler and cheaper. For anyone with heavy HRA (metro renter) or an active home loan with ₹2L+ interest, old regime still wins by ₹50K-1.5L/year. Run the income tax calculator above before choosing; don’t go by intuition.
• Claiming deductions in the new regime. Only 80CCD(2) (employer NPS) and 80CCH(2) (Agniveer) are allowed in the new regime. Every other Chapter VI-A deduction is disallowed. Our calculator greys these out when new regime is active.
• Missing Section 80CCD(1B). The ₹50,000 NPS top-up above 80C is the single highest-ROI deduction for 30%-slab taxpayers — ₹15,600 tax saving per year. Yet 60% of eligible taxpayers never claim it.
• Forgetting HRA landlord-PAN rule. If your annual rent exceeds ₹1,00,000, your landlord’s PAN is mandatory for HRA exemption claim. Missing it = full disallowance at CPC-ITR processing. Keep the PAN on record.
• Double-counting Section 24(b) and 80EEA. Only interest exceeding ₹2L under Section 24(b) qualifies under 80EEA, up to the additional ₹1.5L cap. You cannot double-claim the same ₹2L of interest across both sections.
• Not using the regime switch. Salaried taxpayers can switch regimes every year via Form 10-IEA. If your deduction profile changes (home loan paid off, child starts school, moved to own home), re-run the income tax calculator and pick the current-year winner — don’t lock in a stale choice.
• Ignoring the 4% cess. Cess adds ~4% to your final tax number. On a ₹5L tax, cess alone is ₹20,000 — bigger than most individual deductions. The income tax calculator shows cess separately so you see the full picture.

Frequently asked questions

Can I claim Section 80C in the new regime?

No. The new regime forfeits all Chapter VI-A deductions except 80CCD(2) (employer NPS contribution) and 80CCH(2) (Agniveer Corpus Fund). It also forfeits HRA, LTA and Section 24(b) home loan interest on self-occupied property.

Why does my tax show ₹1 at ₹5,00,001 of income?

Marginal relief under Section 87A. The rebate is engineered so that crossing the ₹5L (old) or ₹7L (new) threshold by a few rupees does not trigger the entire slab tax. Your tax cannot exceed the amount by which your income exceeds the threshold.

Can I switch regimes every year?

Yes, salaried individuals may switch between regimes every assessment year via Form 10-IEA. Business or professional income holders get only one chance to opt out of the new regime; switching back is a one-time choice.

How accurate is this calculator?

Every result is computed with high-precision decimal arithmetic so totals are accurate to the rupee. Our test suite asserts every slab boundary, rebate edge, surcharge marginal-relief point, and the Health & Education Cess against published Income Tax India examples. Eleven scenario fixtures and 500+ property-based fast-check assertions run on every commit.

Sources

• Income Tax Act 1961 — current consolidated text including Finance Act 2024 amendments (incometaxindia.gov.in)
• Budget 2024 explanatory memorandum — standard deduction, 87A rebate, surcharge rationalisation
• Budget 2023 — new-regime surcharge cap at 25%, default-regime change
• CBDT Notification on Form 10-IEA regime-switch procedure

Disclaimer. MoneyKit results are for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial or tax advice. Actual tax depends on your full income profile, deductions claimed, residency status, and any special incomes (capital gains, crypto, lottery, foreign sources). Consult a qualified Chartered Accountant before filing your return.