Estimate income tax under the old regime for tax year 2026-27 for a resident below 60, after your deductions and exemptions, with 4% cess.
How to use it. Enter gross slab-rate income for tax year 2026-27. In the second box, add up everything the old regime lets you subtract: the ₹50,000 standard deduction, professional tax, the HRA exemption, interest on a self-occupied home loan (up to ₹2 lakh), the investment deduction (up to ₹1.5 lakh, old 80C, now section 123), health insurance (old 80D, now section 126), your own extra NPS contribution (up to ₹50,000) and any others you qualify for.
Rates used. These are the old regime slabs for a resident below 60, with the 4% cess built in: nil up to ₹2.5 lakh, 5.2% to ₹5 lakh, 20.8% to ₹10 lakh and 31.2% above. Residents aged 60 to 79 have nil tax up to ₹3 lakh and those aged 80 or more up to ₹5 lakh, so this tool overstates their tax slightly.
The rebate. If total income is ₹5 lakh or less, a resident gets a rebate of up to ₹12,500, which cancels the tax. Enter the tax shown as the rebate, or read the result as nil. There is no marginal relief in the old regime, so ₹5,10,000 of total income is taxed in full.
Worked example (illustrative). Gross salary ₹18,00,000 with ₹5,00,000 of deductions and exemptions gives total income of ₹13,00,000. Slab tax is ₹12,500 + ₹1,00,000 + ₹90,000 = ₹2,02,500, and with cess ₹2,10,600. That compares with ₹1,50,800 under the new regime calculator for the same salary, so the new regime wins unless deductions exceed about ₹6.4 lakh.
Limits. Surcharge, special-rate capital gains and age-based exemptions are not modelled. Check the break-even table in the old vs new regime guide.
Calculations and checklists
How to calculate the HRA exemption in the old regime for 2026-27: the three-way test, metro and non-metro examples, rent to parents and landlord PAN.
Tax rates and 2026 rules
Which regime is better for 2026-27? Break-even deduction tables for salaried taxpayers, worked profiles, switching rules and special cases.
