Which tax regime is better, old or new?

It depends entirely on how much you can deduct. The new regime has lower slab rates but disallows almost all deductions, so it usually wins for people with few deductions. The old regime has higher rates but allows deductions like 80C, 80D, HRA, and home-loan interest, so it can win for people who claim a lot of them. There is no universal answer — the only reliable way to decide is to compute your tax under both regimes with your actual income and deductions, which is what this calculator does, showing both figures and naming the cheaper one.

How is income up to ₹12.75 lakh tax-free under the new regime?

Two provisions stack together. First, a standard deduction of ₹75,000 is subtracted from salary income, so ₹12.75 lakh of salary becomes ₹12 lakh of taxable income. Second, the Section 87A rebate under the new regime — up to ₹60,000 — exactly cancels the slab tax on ₹12 lakh of taxable income, which works out to ₹60,000 (₹20,000 at 5% plus ₹40,000 at 10%). The result is zero tax. This applies only to salaried taxpayers who get the standard deduction and only under the new regime; the old regime’s rebate makes income up to ₹5 lakh tax-free instead.

What is marginal relief and when does it apply?

Marginal relief prevents an unfair jump in tax when your income just crosses the ₹12 lakh rebate threshold under the new regime. Without it, earning ₹1 above ₹12 lakh would suddenly make the whole slab tax payable. Marginal relief caps the tax so you never pay more than the amount by which your income exceeds ₹12 lakh. For example, at ₹12.1 lakh of taxable income the tax is limited to about ₹10,000 plus cess, rather than the full ₹61,500 the slabs would otherwise produce. This calculator applies marginal relief automatically.

Does this calculator include cess and surcharge?

Yes. It adds the 4% health and education cess to the tax under both regimes, as the law requires. It also applies surcharge for high incomes — 10% above ₹50 lakh, rising in tiers — with the new regime’s top surcharge capped at 25% and the old regime’s at 37%. For most salaried taxpayers below ₹50 lakh, no surcharge applies and only the cess is added. The total tax shown is the final figure including cess and any applicable surcharge.

Which deductions can I claim, and in which regime?

This calculator covers the core deductions most salaried people use under the old regime: 80C (up to ₹1.5 lakh for EPF, PPF, ELSS, life insurance, and similar), 80D (medical insurance premiums), 80CCD(1B) (an extra ₹50,000 for NPS), Section 24(b) (home-loan interest up to ₹2 lakh), and the HRA exemption. All of these apply only under the old regime. The new regime allows essentially only the standard deduction. This is why the old regime can still win for people with significant deductions despite its higher rates.

Is the income I enter stored anywhere?

No. The entire calculation runs in JavaScript inside your own browser. Nothing you enter — income, age, or deductions — is uploaded, logged, or stored on any server. The tool is free, needs no login, and closing the tab clears everything. There is no account and no saved history. The figures are informational and based on the FY 2025-26 slabs; for filing, confirm with the Income Tax Department or a chartered accountant.

Tax

Income Tax Calculator

Compare your income tax under the old and new regimes for FY 2025-26, with the rebate, marginal relief, and cess worked in. Free, in your browser, nothing uploaded.

By the Samastam teamLast updated 2026-06-20Editorial standards

Your income

Annual income (₹)

₹

Salaried (gets standard deduction)

Age band

Age changes the basic exemption under the old regime only. The new regime is the same for all ages.

Deductions (old regime only)

The new regime ignores these. Leave blank if you do not claim them.

80C (EPF, PPF, ELSS…)

₹

80D (medical insurance)

₹

80CCD(1B) (NPS)

₹

24(b) (home-loan interest)

₹

HRA exemption

₹

Old vs new regime

Enter your annual income on the left. Your tax under both regimes appears here as you type, with the cheaper one highlighted.

An income tax calculator works out how much tax you owe for the financial year under both the old and the new tax regimes, so you can see which one costs less. Enter your annual income, your age, and — for the old regime — your deductions, and it shows the tax under each regime side by side for FY 2025-26 (AY 2026-27), including the Section 87A rebate, marginal relief, and the 4% health and education cess. Everything runs in your browser, so nothing you enter is sent anywhere.

What this is and why it matters

Since the new tax regime became the default under Section 115BAC, every Indian taxpayer effectively faces a yearly choice between two systems. The new regime taxes income through wide, gentle slabs — nothing up to ₹4 lakh, then 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, and 30% in ₹4 lakh steps — but disallows almost every deduction, including the popular 80C, 80D, and HRA. The old regime keeps higher rates over narrower slabs but lets you subtract a long list of deductions first, shrinking the income that is actually taxed. The two systems can produce very different bills for the same salary, and the better one is specific to each person’s numbers.

This is why a calculator matters more for income tax than for almost any other Indian tax. The deductions that decide the answer — how much 80C you use, whether you pay home-loan interest, how much HRA you can claim — vary so much between individuals that no rule of thumb reliably tells you which regime wins. The only dependable method is to compute the tax both ways and compare. Doing this by hand means walking two sets of slabs, applying two different rebates, checking marginal relief, and adding cess — error-prone work that a calculator does instantly and correctly.

Getting the comparison right has real money at stake, and not only at filing time. The regime you declare to your employer at the start of the year determines how much TDS is deducted from each month’s salary, so an informed choice improves your cash flow all year, not just your return. Seeing both figures side by side, with the cheaper one named, turns a confusing either-or into a clear decision you can act on.

How to use this tool

Enter your annual income. Type your gross annual income — for salaried people, your total salary before any deductions. The calculator applies the standard deduction automatically (₹75,000 under the new regime, ₹50,000 under the old), so you do not subtract it yourself. The comparison updates as you type, with nothing submitted anywhere.

Set your age. Choose your age band. It matters only for the old regime, where senior citizens (60–80) get a higher basic exemption of ₹3 lakh and super-senior citizens (80+) get ₹5 lakh. The new regime applies the same slabs to everyone regardless of age.

Enter your deductions (for the old regime). Add the deductions you can claim — 80C investments up to ₹1.5 lakh, 80D medical insurance, the ₹50,000 NPS deduction under 80CCD(1B), home-loan interest up to ₹2 lakh under Section 24(b), and your HRA exemption. These reduce your taxable income under the old regime only; the new regime ignores them. If you are unsure of your HRA exemption, work it out with the HRA Calculator first.

Read the comparison. The calculator shows your total tax under each regime side by side and names the cheaper one, along with how much you save by choosing it. Adjust your income or deductions to see how the answer shifts — for instance, how much deduction you would need for the old regime to overtake the new — and use the result to decide which regime to declare to your employer.

Examples and use cases

A ₹12.75 lakh salary pays zero tax under the new regime

A salaried professional in Hyderabad earns ₹12.75 lakh a year and has few deductions. Under the new regime, the ₹75,000 standard deduction brings taxable income to ₹12 lakh, and the Section 87A rebate of ₹60,000 cancels the entire ₹60,000 slab tax — zero tax payable. Under the old regime, even with the standard deduction the tax would run to tens of thousands unless large deductions are claimed. For this person, the new regime is the obvious choice.

A high-deduction earner where the old regime still wins

A ₹18 lakh earner in Mumbai maxes out 80C (₹1.5 lakh), pays ₹2 lakh of home-loan interest, claims ₹25,000 under 80D, and has a ₹3 lakh HRA exemption — about ₹6.75 lakh of deductions. Entering ₹18 lakh with these deductions, the calculator shows the old regime’s taxable income falling to around ₹10.5 lakh, which can make it competitive with or cheaper than the new regime. This is exactly the high-deduction case where computing both regimes pays off.

The marginal-relief zone just above ₹12 lakh

A consultant with ₹12.1 lakh of taxable income (no standard deduction, as non-salaried) sits just above the rebate threshold. Without marginal relief the slab tax would be ₹61,500, but the relief caps the tax at the ₹10,000 by which income crossed ₹12 lakh, giving ₹10,400 after cess. The calculator applies this automatically, showing how the new regime avoids a punishing cliff for incomes just over the limit.

A senior citizen under the old regime

A 65-year-old retiree in Pune with ₹6 lakh of income compares regimes. Under the old regime the senior-citizen basic exemption of ₹3 lakh applies, so only ₹3 lakh is taxed — ₹10,000 in the 5% band plus ₹20,000 in the 20% band — before any rebate. The calculator applies the age-based exemption automatically, which matters for retirees weighing the old regime’s higher exemption against the new regime’s flat structure.

Frequently asked questions

Which tax regime is better, old or new?: It depends entirely on how much you can deduct. The new regime has lower slab rates but disallows almost all deductions, so it usually wins for people with few deductions. The old regime has higher rates but allows deductions like 80C, 80D, HRA, and home-loan interest, so it can win for people who claim a lot of them. There is no universal answer — the only reliable way to decide is to compute your tax under both regimes with your actual income and deductions, which is what this calculator does, showing both figures and naming the cheaper one.
How is income up to ₹12.75 lakh tax-free under the new regime?: Two provisions stack together. First, a standard deduction of ₹75,000 is subtracted from salary income, so ₹12.75 lakh of salary becomes ₹12 lakh of taxable income. Second, the Section 87A rebate under the new regime — up to ₹60,000 — exactly cancels the slab tax on ₹12 lakh of taxable income, which works out to ₹60,000 (₹20,000 at 5% plus ₹40,000 at 10%). The result is zero tax. This applies only to salaried taxpayers who get the standard deduction and only under the new regime; the old regime’s rebate makes income up to ₹5 lakh tax-free instead.
What is marginal relief and when does it apply?: Marginal relief prevents an unfair jump in tax when your income just crosses the ₹12 lakh rebate threshold under the new regime. Without it, earning ₹1 above ₹12 lakh would suddenly make the whole slab tax payable. Marginal relief caps the tax so you never pay more than the amount by which your income exceeds ₹12 lakh. For example, at ₹12.1 lakh of taxable income the tax is limited to about ₹10,000 plus cess, rather than the full ₹61,500 the slabs would otherwise produce. This calculator applies marginal relief automatically.
Does this calculator include cess and surcharge?: Yes. It adds the 4% health and education cess to the tax under both regimes, as the law requires. It also applies surcharge for high incomes — 10% above ₹50 lakh, rising in tiers — with the new regime’s top surcharge capped at 25% and the old regime’s at 37%. For most salaried taxpayers below ₹50 lakh, no surcharge applies and only the cess is added. The total tax shown is the final figure including cess and any applicable surcharge.
Which deductions can I claim, and in which regime?: This calculator covers the core deductions most salaried people use under the old regime: 80C (up to ₹1.5 lakh for EPF, PPF, ELSS, life insurance, and similar), 80D (medical insurance premiums), 80CCD(1B) (an extra ₹50,000 for NPS), Section 24(b) (home-loan interest up to ₹2 lakh), and the HRA exemption. All of these apply only under the old regime. The new regime allows essentially only the standard deduction. This is why the old regime can still win for people with significant deductions despite its higher rates.
Is the income I enter stored anywhere?: No. The entire calculation runs in JavaScript inside your own browser. Nothing you enter — income, age, or deductions — is uploaded, logged, or stored on any server. The tool is free, needs no login, and closing the tab clears everything. There is no account and no saved history. The figures are informational and based on the FY 2025-26 slabs; for filing, confirm with the Income Tax Department or a chartered accountant.