Tax under the new and old regime side by side for 2026-27, with rebate, surcharge, cess and the cheaper regime marked.
Choosing between the old and the new regime comes down to one comparison: do your old-regime deductions add up to more than the new regime's lower rates save? This page opens with a ₹15,00,000 salary and a typical set of old-regime claims already filled in: an HRA exempt amount of ₹2,40,000, ₹1,50,000 under 80C, ₹25,000 of health insurance, ₹50,000 of your own NPS contribution and ₹2,00,000 of home-loan interest. On those numbers the old regime comes to ₹72,280 and the new regime to ₹97,500, so the old regime saves ₹25,220. Change any box to see where the answer flips. Set the old-regime boxes to zero and the new regime wins by ₹1,59,900. Employees who rent in a metro city and invest fully under 80C are the group most likely to come out ahead in the old regime. The honest limit is that the page covers a resident individual with salary and slab-rate income, and only the deductions listed. It does not model capital gains, TDS or the other Chapter VIII deductions, so check a filing before you declare a choice to your employer.
A salaried resident with ₹15,00,000 of salary pays about ₹97,500 in income tax for 2026-27 under the new regime and about ₹2,57,400 under the old regime when no deductions are claimed, so the new regime is cheaper by ₹1,59,900. The page works both regimes from the same income. For the new regime it takes the ₹75,000 standard deduction and any employer NPS contribution, then applies the slabs: nil to ₹4,00,000, 5% to ₹8,00,000, 10% to ₹12,00,000, 15% to ₹16,00,000, 20% to ₹20,00,000, 25% to ₹24,00,000 and 30% above. For the old regime it takes the ₹50,000 standard deduction plus the deductions you enter, then applies 5% above ₹2,50,000, 20% above ₹5,00,000 and 30% above ₹10,00,000. A lower exemption limit applies from age 60 (₹3,00,000) and 80 (₹5,00,000) in the old regime only. The regime with the lower total is marked, and the slab table shows the tax earned in each slab.
Under the new regime, a resident whose taxable income is ₹12,00,000 or less pays no tax, because the rebate of up to ₹60,000 covers the whole slab tax. With the ₹75,000 standard deduction that is a salary of ₹12,75,000. Just above the limit the rebate does not vanish at once: with taxable income of ₹12,25,000 the slab tax is ₹63,750, but the tax is limited to the ₹25,000 by which income exceeds ₹12,00,000, so about ₹26,000 is paid after cess. Under the old regime the rebate is up to ₹12,500 when taxable income is ₹5,00,000 or less. Surcharge is added to the tax above ₹50 lakh of income: 10%, then 15% above ₹1 crore, 25% above ₹2 crore, and in the old regime 37% above ₹5 crore (the new regime stops at 25%). Marginal relief keeps tax plus surcharge from rising by more than the income above each limit. A 4% Health and Education Cess is added on tax plus surcharge, and the final tax and taxable income are rounded to the nearest ₹10, as the Act directs.
The new regime allows the ₹75,000 standard deduction and the employer's NPS contribution up to 14% of basic pay plus dearness allowance. The old regime allows the ₹50,000 standard deduction, the HRA exempt amount, up to ₹1,50,000 for 80C investments, up to ₹25,000 (₹50,000 for seniors) of health insurance for yourself and the same for parents, ₹50,000 of your own NPS contribution, up to ₹2,00,000 of interest on a self-occupied home loan, and employer NPS up to 10% of basic pay plus DA (14% for government employers). The page applies those limits and ignores any amount above them. Work out the HRA exempt amount with the HRA calculator on this site. A person with about ₹7,00,000 of old-regime claims and a ₹15,00,000 salary can come out ahead in the old regime: the page shows a case at ₹72,280 against ₹97,500.
The figures are rules as of 22 October 2026. From 1 April 2026 the Income-tax Act, 2025 replaces the 1961 Act, and the year of income is now called the tax year, so 2026-27 is the tax year and not an assessment year. The new regime slabs are section 202 (earlier section 115BAC), the rebate is section 156 (earlier 87A), the standard deduction is in section 19 (earlier 16(ia)), 80C is section 123, health insurance is section 126 (earlier 80D) and the NPS deductions are section 124 (earlier 80CCD). The old-regime slabs and surcharge are in the Finance Bill 2026, and the Budget speech made no change to slabs. The page is an estimate for a resident individual with salary and slab-rate income. It leaves out capital gains and other special-rate income, non-residents, HUF, business income, TDS, perquisites, loss set-off and other deductions beyond the boxes shown. Nothing you type is stored or sent, and the result is not tax advice.
At a ₹15,00,000 salary the new regime tax is ₹97,500, so the old regime needs about ₹5,94,000 of total deductions, standard deduction included. The page opens with ₹7,15,000 of deductions giving ₹72,280. At a ₹10,00,000 salary the new regime tax is already ₹0 after rebate, so no realistic claim set beats it.
An individual with no business income can choose each year, and the new regime applies unless you opt out when filing the return. Employers ask for your choice only to deduct TDS; the return can still use the other regime. Business income makes switching limited under section 202(4) of the Income-tax Act, 2025.
Yes, in the new regime, for a resident individual whose taxable income is ₹12,00,000 or less: the rebate of up to ₹60,000 wipes out the slab tax of ₹60,000. A salaried person gets there at a salary of ₹12,75,000 because of the ₹75,000 standard deduction. The rebate does not cover special-rate income such as capital gains, and the old regime only rebates up to ₹12,500 at ₹5,00,000.
Nil up to ₹4,00,000; 5% from ₹4,00,001 to ₹8,00,000; 10% to ₹12,00,000; 15% to ₹16,00,000; 20% to ₹20,00,000; 25% to ₹24,00,000; 30% above ₹24,00,000. These are in section 202 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (earlier section 115BAC), and the Budget speech made no change. The tax at ₹24,00,000 is ₹3,00,000 before cess.
Compare the totals the page shows. As a rough guide, the old regime wins only when deductions are large: for a ₹15,00,000 salary, HRA ₹2,40,000, 80C ₹1,50,000, health insurance ₹25,000, NPS ₹50,000 and home-loan interest ₹2,00,000 give ₹72,280 against ₹97,500 under the new regime. With no deductions the new regime is cheaper at every salary shown by default.
In the new regime the tax on income just above ₹12,00,000 is limited to the amount by which the income exceeds ₹12,00,000. With taxable income of ₹12,25,000 the slab tax is ₹63,750, but only ₹25,000 is payable before cess, so ₹26,000 with cess. The effect ends near ₹12,70,000 taxable income, where the slab tax and the excess are equal.
Only if taxable income is above ₹50 lakh. The rate is 10% to ₹1 crore, 15% to ₹2 crore, 25% to ₹5 crore, and above ₹5 crore 37% in the old regime but 25% in the new regime. Marginal relief means that at ₹50,10,000 of new-regime taxable income the surcharge is ₹7,000, not about ₹1,08,300.
Yes. The employer's contribution to NPS is deductible in both regimes, up to 14% of basic pay plus DA in the new regime. In the old regime the limit is 10% for private employers and 14% for government employers. Your own NPS contribution of ₹50,000 under 80CCD(1B) is old regime only.
Use the Other income box, already net of its own deductions. For rented property, enter rent received minus the 30% standard deduction (section 22 of the Income-tax Act, 2025) and any home-loan interest: ₹1,00,000 of rent becomes ₹70,000. The page taxes that amount at slab rates in both regimes and does not add a standard deduction.
No. The self and family limit is ₹25,000, but it becomes ₹50,000 if you or any family member you insure (spouse or children) is 60 or more. Tick the family-member box on this page for that case. The parents' limit has its own box: ₹25,000, or ₹50,000 if a parent is 60 or more.