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Best Salary Calculators India 2026 — Free Tools for Salaried Employees

The best free salary calculators for India — CTC to take-home, HRA exemption, income tax, TDS, gratuity, and in-hand salary breakdown. No sign-up required.

Updated 2026-06-27

Tools reviewed in this article

Salary / CTC CalculatorIncome Tax CalculatorHRA Exemption CalculatorTDS CalculatorGratuity Calculator

Every salaried employee in India needs to understand at least three numbers: CTC, take-home, and income tax liability. These six calculators cover the full salary picture — from decoding your offer letter to optimising your tax before the financial year ends.

Overview

Salary calculators in India need to handle more complexity than a simple gross-minus-tax formula. They must account for the CTC structure (employer EPF, gratuity inside CTC), HRA exemption based on city and rent, two tax regimes with different deductions, TDS smoothed across 12 months, and gratuity computed on a different formula. The tools below handle all of this without requiring a spreadsheet or an accountant.

What to Look For

FY 2026-27 tax slabs — the new regime slabs changed significantly for FY 2025-26 and were extended for FY 2026-27. Any calculator using older slab rates will give wrong results.

Both old and new regime support — the correct regime depends entirely on your personal deduction profile. A calculator that only covers one regime is incomplete.

CTC-to-take-home breakdown — the most common need: given an offer letter with a CTC number, what actually hits your account each month?

No login wall — a salary calculation should not require creating an account.

Our Picks

Salary Calculator

The Salary Calculator is the starting point for any CTC analysis. Enter your annual CTC and salary structure (basic %, HRA %, allowances), and it breaks down: gross monthly salary, EPF deductions (employee and employer), TDS, professional tax, and net take-home — with a monthly and annual view.

It is the right tool when you receive a job offer and want to know what ₹15 lakh CTC actually means for your monthly cash flow. The calculator handles the employer EPF and gratuity inside-CTC deduction that most people miss, giving a realistic in-hand figure rather than a flattering CTC/12 number.

Best for: evaluating job offers; understanding your salary slip; budgeting monthly expenses against actual income.

Income Tax Calculator

The Income Tax Calculator computes your full annual income tax under both old and new regimes side by side. Enter salary income, other income sources (FD interest, rental income, capital gains), and your deductions (80C, 80D, HRA, home loan interest, NPS), and see tax liability, effective tax rate, and marginal rate under each regime.

Unlike employer TDS (which only covers salary), this calculator handles mixed income — critical for salaried employees who also have freelance income, rental income, or capital gains to declare.

Best for: annual tax planning; deciding which regime to choose before the financial year starts; preparing for ITR filing in July.

HRA Calculator

The HRA Calculator computes your HRA exemption under Section 10(13A) — the most commonly miscalculated component of salary taxation. Enter your basic salary, actual HRA received from employer, monthly rent paid, and city type (metro / non-metro), and it calculates the exempt and taxable portions of your HRA instantly.

Many salaried employees either under-claim (don't submit rent receipts) or miscalculate the three-way minimum correctly. The calculator eliminates both errors. Under the old tax regime, this is often the second largest deduction after 80C.

Best for: salaried employees paying rent; verifying employer's HRA exemption calculation; estimating how much rent you need to pay to maximise exemption.

Old vs New Tax Regime Calculator

The Old vs New Tax Regime Calculator is the most decision-critical tool for FY 2026-27. It runs both regime calculations simultaneously with your exact numbers — salary, HRA, 80C investments, home loan interest, NPS, 80D premium — and shows which regime saves more and by how much.

The crossover point (where old regime starts winning) depends on total deductions. For most employees with deductions below ₹3–3.5 lakh, the new regime wins. For those with home loan interest, full 80C, HRA in a metro city, and NPS contributions, the old regime can save ₹30,000–₹80,000/year over the new regime.

Best for: choosing regime at the start of the financial year; evaluating whether home loan EMI changes the regime decision; comparing offers structured for different regimes.

TDS Calculator

The TDS Calculator shows the monthly TDS your employer should be deducting based on your projected annual salary income and declared investments. If your employer's TDS deduction doesn't match the calculator's figure, it signals either a missing investment declaration or an error in the payroll system.

It is also useful mid-year when you have not submitted investment proofs — the calculator shows how much TDS will jump in the remaining months if you don't submit declarations by the employer's deadline (usually January–February).

Best for: verifying monthly TDS on your salary slip; planning investment declarations to avoid a year-end TDS spike; understanding why TDS changed after submitting Form 12BB.

Gratuity Calculator

The Gratuity Calculator computes your gratuity entitlement under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972. Enter your last drawn basic salary (plus DA if applicable) and years of completed service, and it applies the formula: (basic + DA) × 15/26 × years of service.

Gratuity is often underestimated by employees because the formula uses 15/26 (not 15/30 or 0.5) — it accounts for 26 working days per month. On a ₹60,000 basic after 10 years: gratuity = ₹60,000 × 15/26 × 10 = ₹3,46,154, fully tax-exempt up to ₹20 lakh for private sector employees.

Best for: calculating entitlement before resignation; understanding the financial impact of leaving before completing 5 years; estate planning for death/disability scenarios.

How We Evaluated

All six calculators were selected against these criteria:

  • FY 2026-27 accuracy — tax slabs, standard deduction amounts, and EPF rates verified against current rules
  • Both regime support — old and new tax regimes covered where applicable
  • No sign-up required — results appear immediately
  • Shareable URL — inputs encoded in the URL so you can share a specific calculation with your CA or HR team
  • Transparent formula — the calculation logic is shown, not just the output number

Frequently Asked Questions

CTC (Cost to Company) includes employer-side costs that never reach your bank account — employer EPF contribution (12% of basic), gratuity provision (4.81% of basic), and group insurance premium. After removing these, you get gross salary. From gross salary, deduct employee EPF (12% of basic), TDS (monthly income tax), and professional tax (₹200/month in most states) to arrive at net take-home. A ₹12 lakh CTC typically yields ₹78,000–₹85,000/month in-hand, not ₹1 lakh. Use the [Salary Calculator](/salary-calculator-india/) to get your exact figure.
HRA exemption is the minimum of three values: actual HRA received; actual rent paid minus 10% of basic salary; and 50% of basic salary (if metro city) or 40% (if non-metro). Example: basic ₹40,000/month, HRA received ₹20,000/month, rent paid ₹18,000/month, metro city. Min(₹20,000 / ₹14,000 / ₹20,000) = ₹14,000 is exempt. The remaining ₹6,000 HRA is taxable. Use the [HRA Calculator](/hra-calculator-india/) to compute this instantly with your actual figures.
At ₹10 lakh salary in FY 2026-27, the new tax regime typically saves more if deductions are below ₹2.5 lakh. With standard deduction of ₹75,000 under the new regime, taxable income is ₹9.25 lakh and tax is approximately ₹42,500. Under the old regime with 80C (₹1.5 lakh) + standard deduction (₹50,000), taxable income is ₹8 lakh and tax is ₹75,000. New regime wins here by ₹32,500/year. Add HRA and home loan interest to the old regime and it may flip — use the [Old vs New Tax Regime Calculator](/old-vs-new-tax-regime-calculator/) with your actual deductions.
Gratuity is payable when you leave a company after completing 5 or more years of continuous service (death and disability are exempt from the 5-year rule). The formula is: gratuity = (last drawn basic + DA) × 15/26 × number of completed years of service. On a basic of ₹50,000/month after 7 years: gratuity = ₹50,000 × 15/26 × 7 = ₹2,01,923. Use the [Gratuity Calculator](/gratuity-calculator-india/) to model different tenures and salary levels.
Gross salary is total earnings before any deductions — basic pay, HRA, LTA, special allowance, and other allowances as shown in the earnings section of your salary slip. Net salary (take-home) is gross salary minus all deductions: employee EPF contribution, TDS, professional tax, and any other recoveries (advance, loan EMI deducted by employer). The difference between gross and net is typically 15–25% of gross for most salaried employees in India.
Your employer estimates your total taxable income for the year (based on your salary structure and investment declarations via Form 12BB), computes annual tax, and divides by 12 to get monthly TDS. If your annual tax liability under your chosen regime is ₹1.2 lakh, your employer deducts ₹10,000/month. TDS increases in the second half of the year if you haven't submitted investment proofs. If excess TDS is deducted, you claim a refund when filing your ITR. The [TDS Calculator](/tds-calculator-india/) shows projected monthly deduction based on your salary and declarations.
The standard deduction for salaried employees is ₹75,000 per year under the new tax regime and ₹50,000 under the old tax regime for FY 2026-27. It is a flat deduction from gross salary with no requirement to submit any proof or receipt — the employer applies it automatically when computing TDS. This replaced the earlier transport allowance and medical reimbursement exemptions. The new regime's higher standard deduction (₹75,000 vs ₹50,000) is one reason it is now more attractive for employees without large HRA or home loan deductions.
Yes — professional tax paid is deductible under Section 16(iii) of the Income Tax Act and is subtracted before arriving at income from salary for both old and new tax regimes. Since professional tax is a maximum of ₹2,400/year (₹200/month in most states), the tax saving is modest — ₹720/year for a 30% bracket taxpayer — but it is applied automatically by employers and requires no declaration from you.
If TDS shown in Form 26AS is lower than what your salary slips show was deducted, your employer may not have deposited the full TDS to the government. Contact your employer's payroll or finance team immediately — they are liable under Section 201 for non-deposit. You cannot claim credit for TDS not reflected in Form 26AS when filing your ITR. If Form 26AS shows more TDS than expected, verify whether another deductor (bank, tenant) has deducted TDS on other income.
No — once you declare your tax regime preference to your employer at the start of the financial year, you are locked into that choice for TDS purposes for the entire year. However, you can switch regimes when filing your ITR in July — so your employer deducts TDS on one regime, but you file under the other if it saves more tax, and receive a refund or pay the difference. Salaried employees (without business income) can switch regimes every year at ITR filing time.

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