India Salary Calculator
Estimate your take-home pay, CTC breakdown, and income tax under the New vs Old regime for FY 2025-26.
How the India Salary Calculator Works
Our India salary calculator estimates your take-home pay, CTC breakdown, and income tax for FY 2025-26. Enter your CTC or fixed pay, variable pay percentage, basic salary percentage, and tax regime to see your monthly and annual in-hand salary, employer and employee PF, gratuity, and a complete slab-by-slab tax breakdown. The calculator compares the New and Old tax regimes automatically so you can choose the one that saves you the most tax.
Understanding CTC vs Take-Home Salary in India
CTC (Cost to Company) is the total annual cost an employer bears for an employee. It is not the amount you receive in your bank account. CTC includes your fixed pay, variable pay (bonus, performance pay), employer's contribution to Provident Fund (PF), gratuity, and sometimes other benefits like health insurance. Your take-home or in-hand salary is what remains after deducting employer PF, gratuity, employee PF, professional tax, and income tax from your gross salary.
Gross Salary = Fixed CTC − Employer PF − Gratuity
Take-Home = Gross Salary − Employee PF − Professional Tax − Income Tax
For example, if your CTC is ₹12,00,000 with 50% basic and PF limited to ₹15,000/month, your fixed CTC is split into basic (₹6,00,000), HRA (₹3,00,000), and special allowance. The employer contributes ₹21,600 annually to PF (12% of ₹1,80,000 capped basic), and gratuity adds roughly ₹34,615. Your gross salary is the CTC minus these employer-borne components, and your take-home is gross salary minus your own PF, professional tax, and income tax.
New Tax Regime vs Old Tax Regime (FY 2025-26)
India offers two tax regimes. The New regime has lower slab rates and a higher standard deduction of ₹75,000, but it does not allow most deductions like HRA exemption, 80C, 80D, or NPS. The Old regime has higher slab rates and a standard deduction of ₹50,000, but it allows you to claim a wide range of deductions that can significantly reduce your taxable income.
New Regime Slabs (FY 2025-26)
- 0% up to ₹3,00,000
- 5% ₹3,00,001 – ₹7,00,000
- 10% ₹7,00,001 – ₹10,00,000
- 15% ₹10,00,001 – ₹12,00,000
- 20% ₹12,00,001 – ₹15,00,000
- 30% above ₹15,00,000
Under the New regime, Section 87A rebate makes tax zero if your taxable income is up to ₹12,00,000. Marginal relief applies if income is between ₹12,00,001 and ₹13,00,000, ensuring the tax payable never exceeds the income above ₹12 lakhs.
Old Regime Slabs
- 0% up to ₹2,50,000
- 5% ₹2,50,001 – ₹5,00,000
- 20% ₹5,00,001 – ₹10,00,000
- 30% above ₹10,00,000
Under the Old regime, Section 87A rebate makes tax zero if your taxable income is up to ₹5,00,000, with marginal relief up to ₹5,15,000. The Old regime lets you claim HRA exemption, 80C investments (PF, PPF, ELSS, life insurance — up to ₹1,50,000), 80D health insurance premiums (up to ₹1,00,000), and NPS contributions (up to ₹50,000).
How HRA Exemption Works
House Rent Allowance (HRA) is exempt from tax under the Old regime if you pay rent and live in rented accommodation. The exempt amount is the minimum of three values: actual HRA received, rent paid minus 10% of basic salary, and 50% of basic salary (for metro cities — 40% for non-metro). This calculator uses 50% of basic as the metro-city limit. Enter your annual rent paid and the calculator computes the exempt portion automatically.
Provident Fund (PF) and Gratuity
Both employer and employee contribute 12% of basic salary to the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF). By default, many employers cap the PF wage to ₹15,000/month, meaning PF is calculated on ₹1,80,000 annually rather than the full basic. You can toggle this cap in the calculator. If not capped, the employer PF rate is configurable (default 12%). Gratuity is calculated as 15/26 of monthly basic salary per year of service — this calculator uses the annual accrual factor, which is (basic/12) × (15/26).
Surcharge and Cess
A surcharge applies to high-income earners: 10% on income above ₹50 lakh, 15% above ₹1 crore, and 25% above ₹2 crore. Under the Old regime, a 37% surcharge applies above ₹5 crore (the New regime caps surcharge at 25%). A health and education cess of 4% is applied on top of (tax + surcharge) for all taxpayers regardless of income.
Deductions Under the Old Regime
- Section 80C: Up to ₹1,50,000 for PF, PPF, ELSS, life insurance, home loan principal, and more. This calculator adds your employee PF to your 80C input automatically.
- Section 80D: Up to ₹1,00,000 for health insurance premiums for self, family, and parents.
- Section 80CCD(1B): Up to ₹50,000 for additional NPS contributions.
- HRA Exemption: Calculated from your rent paid and basic salary.
What This Calculator Does Not Include
- Capital gains: Short-term and long-term capital gains from stocks, mutual funds, and property are taxed separately.
- Other deductions: 80E (education loan interest), 80G (donations), 80TTA (savings interest), and home loan interest under Section 24 are not included.
- Variable pay tax timing: Variable pay is taxed on receipt; this calculator treats it as annual income for simplicity.
- State-specific levies: Professional tax is set at ₹2,400 annually (varies by state).
Frequently Asked Questions
CTC (Cost to Company) is the total amount a company spends on an employee annually, including fixed pay, variable pay, employer PF contributions, gratuity, and bonuses. In-hand (take-home) salary is what you actually receive after deducting employer PF, gratuity, employee PF, professional tax, and income tax from your gross salary. The gap between CTC and take-home can be 15-30% depending on your tax regime and deductions.
The New regime is better for most salaried people who claim few deductions, because it has lower slab rates and a higher standard deduction of ₹75,000. The Old regime is better if you claim significant deductions — HRA exemption, 80C (up to ₹1.5L), 80D health insurance (up to ₹1L), NPS (up to ₹50K), and home loan interest — that exceed the rate advantage. This calculator compares both regimes automatically and shows your savings.
HRA exemption is the minimum of three values: (1) actual HRA received, (2) rent paid minus 10% of basic salary, and (3) 50% of basic salary for metro cities (40% for non-metro). This calculator uses 50% of basic as the third limit. Enter your annual rent paid and the calculator computes the exempt portion automatically for the Old regime.
For FY 2025-26, the standard deduction is ₹75,000 under the New tax regime and ₹50,000 under the Old tax regime. Both are flat deductions available to salaried individuals without needing any receipts or proof of investment, reducing your taxable income directly.