Old vs New Tax Regime Calculator

Two ways to pay tax on the same income

For FY 2025-26 (assessment year 2026-27) a salaried person can pay income tax under either of two sets of rules. The new regime under section 115BAC is the default. Its slabs are wider and its rates lower, but it allows very few deductions. The old regime keeps the higher rates but lets you subtract things like HRA, 80C investments, health insurance and home loan interest. Which one costs less depends entirely on how much you can deduct. This calculator works out the full tax both ways and tells you the difference.

The FY 2025-26 figures this calculator uses

All figures below are for FY 2025-26 and were checked against the Income Tax Department's pages on incometax.gov.in.

• New regime slabs (any age): 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 that.
• Old regime slabs, below 60: nil up to ₹2,50,000; 5% to ₹5,00,000; 20% to ₹10,00,000; 30% above. At 60 to 79 the nil band goes up to ₹3,00,000, and at 80 or above to ₹5,00,000 with no 5% band.
• Standard deduction on salary: ₹75,000 in the new regime and ₹50,000 in the old regime.
• Rebate under section 87A: up to ₹60,000 when taxable income is not more than ₹12,00,000 in the new regime, and up to ₹12,500 when it is not more than ₹5,00,000 in the old regime. In the new regime, if income is just above ₹12,00,000, tax is limited to the amount by which income exceeds ₹12,00,000.
• Surcharge: 10% above ₹50 lakh, 15% above ₹1 crore, 25% above ₹2 crore, and in the old regime 37% above ₹5 crore, with marginal relief at each step.
• Health and education cess: 4% of tax plus surcharge, in both regimes.

How the comparison is worked out

For each regime: taxable income = salary + other income - standard deduction - deductions allowed in that regime. Tax is applied slab by slab, then the 87A rebate, then surcharge, then 4% cess. In the old regime the calculator caps 80C at ₹1,50,000, 80D at ₹1,00,000 (the most the different 80D parts can add up to), home loan interest on a self-occupied house at ₹2,00,000 and 80CCD(1B) at ₹50,000. HRA is taken as the exempt amount you enter; work it out first with an HRA calculator.

A worked example

Take a salary of ₹15,00,000, no other income, age below 60. In the old regime you claim HRA of ₹1,20,000, ₹1,50,000 under 80C, ₹25,000 under 80D and ₹50,000 under 80CCD(1B). With the ₹50,000 standard deduction, total deductions are ₹3,95,000 and taxable income is ₹11,05,000. Tax is ₹12,500 + ₹1,00,000 + ₹31,500 = ₹1,44,000, plus ₹5,760 cess, so ₹1,49,760.

In the new regime only the ₹75,000 standard deduction applies, so taxable income is ₹14,25,000. Tax is ₹20,000 + ₹40,000 + ₹33,750 = ₹93,750, plus ₹3,750 cess, so ₹97,500. The new regime saves ₹52,260 here even though ₹3,45,000 of deductions are given up.

Limits of this calculator

• All income is treated as taxed at slab rates. Capital gains taxed at special rates are not handled; use the capital gains calculator for those.
• Deductions that the new regime does allow, such as an employer's NPS contribution under 80CCD(2), are not included in either column.
• Figures are not rounded the way a filed return may round them, so expect a difference of a few rupees.
• It is for resident individuals. It is a planning aid, not tax advice.