At what salary does the old tax regime still win?

What was compared

A salaried resident under 60, with salary as the only income, at every ₹10,000 of gross salary from ₹5 lakh to ₹50 lakh: 451 salaries. At each, the tax under the new regime (standard deduction ₹75,000, no other deduction) against the old regime (standard deduction ₹50,000) under four deduction profiles, each at the statutory cap:

• No deductions: ₹0
• Full 80C: ₹1,50,000
• 80C + 80D: ₹1,75,000
• 80C + 80D + home loan interest: ₹3,75,000

Tax is the full liability: slabs, the 87A rebate and its marginal relief, surcharge with its marginal relief, and cess, from compareRegimes, the same function the income tax calculator uses. Method and conventions are on the methodology page.

What this does not cover

• HRA exemption, which depends on rent, city and basic pay, and can be large. The HRA calculator gives yours; add it to the deductions above.
• Employer NPS contributions, which reduce tax under both regimes; and income other than salary.
• Taxpayers aged 60 and over, whose old-regime exemption limit is higher.

Which regime suits you depends on what you actually claim. BullTimes recommends neither; the figures above are arithmetic on the year’s published slabs.