Income Tax Calculator (India)

It depends entirely on how much you can claim in deductions under the Old Regime. As a rough rule for FY 2026-27: if your total eligible deductions (80C, 80D, HRA, home loan interest, etc) are below roughly Rs 4-4.5 lakh, the New Regime usually results in lower tax because of its wider zero-tax band and lower slab rates. Use the calculator above with your actual numbers rather than relying on a rule of thumb.

Yes, for FY 2026-27. The Section 87A rebate under the New Regime fully cancels out tax liability when taxable income (after the Rs 75,000 standard deduction) is Rs 12 lakh or below. This effectively means gross salary up to Rs 12.75 lakh is tax-free for salaried individuals.

Most Chapter VI-A deductions are unavailable under the New Regime, including Section 80C (PPF, ELSS, life insurance premiums), 80D (health insurance), HRA exemption, and home loan interest deduction under Section 24(b). The New Regime only allows the standard deduction and a few specific exceptions like employer NPS contributions.

Salaried individuals without business income can choose either regime each financial year when filing their return, so switching year to year is allowed. Individuals with business or professional income have more restricted switching rules -- check current Income Tax Department guidance if this applies to you.

It's a rebate that reduces your tax liability to zero if your taxable income falls at or below a threshold -- Rs 12 lakh taxable income under the New Regime (rebate up to Rs 60,000), or Rs 5 lakh taxable income under the Old Regime (rebate up to Rs 12,500). It's applied after computing slab-wise tax, before adding cess.

You should include HRA exemption, home loan interest (Section 24b), and any other itemized deductions you're eligible for in the 'Old Regime deductions' field as a combined total. The calculator does not calculate HRA exemption itself -- use the HRA Exemption Calculator for that figure, then add it into your total deductions here.

Because the New Regime's slab rates are lower at every income band, and its zero-tax threshold (Rs 4 lakh) plus rebate (up to Rs 12 lakh taxable) is more generous than the Old Regime's zero-tax threshold (Rs 2.5 lakh) plus rebate (up to Rs 5 lakh). The Old Regime only wins once your genuine deductions are large enough to offset that gap -- commonly needs a combination of high 80C, HRA, and home loan interest deductions together.

The Old Regime gives a higher exemption threshold for senior citizens (Rs 3 lakh for ages 60-80, Rs 5 lakh for 80+), while the New Regime uses the same Rs 4 lakh threshold for everyone regardless of age. This calculator uses the standard below-60 old-regime threshold -- senior citizens under the Old Regime specifically will owe somewhat less than shown here.