Tax regimes, slabs and rates · Tax Year 2026-27
Old vs new regime: worked examples by salary
Tax under both regimes for salaries from ₹8 lakh to ₹30 lakh, with and without typical old-regime deductions. Every figure comes from TaxCare's own tax engine. See where the new regime wins and how many deductions the old regime needs to catch up.
On this page
For a salaried person under 60 with no other income, the new regime gave the lower tax at every salary from ₹8 lakh to ₹30 lakh below, even when the old regime had ₹4,75,000 of deductions in all, home loan interest included. The old regime only wins when your deductions are larger still. Run your own figures in the income tax calculator.
All numbers on this page were produced by TaxCare's tax engine (compareRegimes, tax year 2026-27), not by hand. The tax year 2026-27 rules are provisional: they repeat the 2025-26 figures and are not yet signed off against the Income-tax Act, 2025.
The two profiles
Profile A: no deductions. Salary only. The old regime gets the ₹50,000 standard deduction and the new regime gets ₹75,000.
Profile B: typical old-regime claims. Salary plus all of these:
- Section 80C: ₹1,50,000.
- Section 80D, health insurance for self and family: ₹25,000.
- Section 80CCD(1B), extra NPS: ₹50,000.
- Interest on a self-occupied home loan: ₹2,00,000.
Profile B adds ₹4,25,000 of claims on top of the standard deduction (₹4,75,000 of deductions in all). The new regime allows none of the four.
Results
Tax includes 4% cess. "Extra to match" is the engine's break-even: how much more old-regime deduction would be needed before the old regime equals the new.
Salary | Profile | Old regime tax | New regime tax | Lower | Extra deductions to match |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
₹8,00,000 | A | ₹65,000 | Nil | New | ₹2,50,000 |
₹8,00,000 | B | Nil | Nil | Equal | n/a |
₹12,00,000 | A | ₹1,63,800 | Nil | New | ₹6,50,000 |
₹12,00,000 | B | ₹59,800 | Nil | New | ₹2,25,000 |
₹15,00,000 | A | ₹2,57,400 | ₹97,500 | New | ₹5,43,748 |
₹15,00,000 | B | ₹1,24,800 | ₹97,500 | New | ₹1,18,748 |
₹20,00,000 | A | ₹4,13,400 | ₹1,92,400 | New | ₹7,08,332 |
₹20,00,000 | B | ₹2,80,800 | ₹1,92,400 | New | ₹2,83,332 |
₹25,00,000 | A | ₹5,69,400 | ₹3,19,800 | New | ₹7,99,999 |
₹25,00,000 | B | ₹4,36,800 | ₹3,19,800 | New | ₹3,74,999 |
₹30,00,000 | A | ₹7,25,400 | ₹4,75,800 | New | ₹7,99,999 |
₹30,00,000 | B | ₹5,92,800 | ₹4,75,800 | New | ₹3,74,999 |
One example in full: salary ₹15,00,000, Profile B
Old regime
- Salary ₹15,00,000 less home loan interest ₹2,00,000 = gross total income ₹13,00,000.
- Deductions: standard ₹50,000 + 80C ₹1,50,000 + 80D ₹25,000 + NPS ₹50,000 = ₹2,75,000.
- Taxable income: ₹10,25,000.
- Slab tax ₹1,20,000. Cess ₹4,800. Tax: ₹1,24,800.
New regime
- Salary ₹15,00,000 less standard deduction ₹75,000 = taxable income ₹14,25,000.
- Slab tax ₹93,750. Cess ₹3,750. Tax: ₹97,500.
The new regime is ₹27,300 lower. To make the old regime equal, the engine says about ₹1,18,748 of further old-regime deductions would be needed.
One example in full: salary ₹10,00,000, 80C only
- Old regime: taxable income ₹8,00,000 (salary less ₹50,000 and ₹1,50,000). Tax ₹72,500 plus cess ₹2,900 = ₹75,400.
- New regime: taxable income ₹9,25,000. The slab tax is ₹32,500 and the rebate removes it. Tax: Nil.
What the examples do not show
- HRA and similar exemptions. A person with a large house rent allowance exemption has more to claim in the old regime. These examples leave it out.
- Parents' health insurance. Section 80D allows a further amount for parents, up to ₹1,00,000 in total with self and family where senior citizens are covered. Profile B uses only ₹25,000.
- Other income. Capital gains, business income and interest change both sides.
- Provisional rules. If the final 2026-27 rules change a slab, the rebate or a cap, every figure above moves.
How much the old regime needs
Add the engine's break-even to Profile B's ₹4,75,000 of deductions and you see the level the old regime needed: about ₹5.9 lakh of total deductions at a salary of ₹15 lakh, about ₹7.6 lakh at ₹20 lakh and about ₹8.5 lakh at ₹25 lakh. Compare your own claims with those levels, and calculate both regimes before you decide. See old vs new tax regime and the slabs for the tax year 2026-27.
How TaxCare helps
TaxCare compares both regimes using the same engine as these examples, but with your own salary, TDS and deductions fetched from the portal. It shows the difference and the break-even, so you choose with the numbers in front of you. The choice is always yours, and nothing is filed until you approve. See pricing for filing.
This guide gives general information and is not professional tax advice.
Questions on this topic
At what salary does the old regime beat the new regime?
In the examples below it did not, even with ₹4,75,000 of deductions in all, home loan interest included. The old regime wins only when your deductions are much larger. The break-even figures in the table show how much more you would need.
Are these numbers exact?
They are computed by TaxCare's engine on provisional 2026-27 rules, which repeat the 2025-26 figures. They are illustrations for a salaried person under 60 with no other income, not a quote of your tax.
Do I get to choose the regime every year?
For salaried people the choice can be made again each year in the return. Business income follows a different rule, so check it before you choose.
Where can I try my own numbers?
Use TaxCare's free income tax calculator, which compares both regimes for your own salary and deductions.
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