Work out your income tax for FY 2025-26 under both regimes, side by side. Includes the standard deduction, the section 87A rebate, marginal relief, surcharge, and 4% cess.
Which regime should I pick?
Whichever one costs less. The new regime has wider slabs, a ₹75,000 standard deduction, and a rebate that clears tax up to ₹12 lakh of income, but it allows almost no other deductions. The old regime taxes you harder but lets you subtract 80C, 80D, HRA, and home loan interest. Enter your real deductions above and the calculator names the winner.
I earn ₹12.75 lakh. Is my tax really zero?
Yes, if that is salary and you are a resident. The ₹75,000 standard deduction brings taxable income to ₹12,00,000, the slab tax on that is ₹60,000, and the section 87A rebate wipes out exactly ₹60,000. One rupee more of income and the rebate stops, though marginal relief keeps the extra tax down to the extra income.
What is marginal relief?
It stops a small rise in income from causing a large rise in tax. There are two kinds here. Above ₹12 lakh in the new regime, section 87A relief caps your tax at the income you earned above ₹12 lakh. At each surcharge threshold - ₹50 lakh, ₹1 crore, ₹2 crore, ₹5 crore - relief caps the extra tax at the extra income. This calculator applies both.
How much health insurance can I claim under 80D?
Two ceilings, not one. Cover for you, your spouse, and your children has its own limit of ₹25,000, which rises to ₹50,000 once you or your spouse turns 60. Cover for your parents has a second limit on the same scale. So someone under 60 insuring senior parents can claim ₹25,000 plus ₹50,000, which is ₹75,000 in total. Enter the two amounts separately above.
Does the calculator handle capital gains?
Not yet. It covers income charged at slab rates - salary, pension, interest, and rent. Capital gains under sections 111A, 112, and 112A are taxed at their own rates and the new-regime rebate cannot erase them, so they need their own calculator rather than a rough fold-in here.
Are senior citizens treated differently?
In the old regime, yes. A resident aged 60 to 79 pays nothing on the first ₹3,00,000, and a resident aged 80 or more pays nothing on the first ₹5,00,000. The new regime uses the same slabs at every age. A non-resident gets no age benefit in either regime.
Why is the final figure rounded?
Section 288B of the Income-tax Act rounds tax payable to the nearest ₹10. A part of ₹10 worth ₹5 or more rounds up and anything less is dropped. Section 288A does the same to your total income before the slabs are read. We show the exact figure before rounding so you can follow every step.