Income tax slabs for FY 2026-27

Which slabs, and for whom

These are the slabs for a resident or non-resident individual for FY 2026-27, assessment year 2027-28. The new regime is section 202 of the Income-tax Act, 2025. That was section 115BAC. The Finance Bill 2026 memorandum says the rates are unchanged for this tax year.

The rebate is section 156. That was section 87A. Health and education cess is 4%, charged after the rebate and after any surcharge.

Use the income tax calculator for a full bill. This page is the map of the slabs themselves. The old vs new guide asks which regime costs less once deductions enter the picture.

New regime slabs

Section 202 taxes normal income in these bands. The rate applies only to the slice inside the band, not to the whole income.

Table: New regime slabs, section 202, FY 2026-27

A salaried person first subtracts the standard deduction. Under section 202(1) that is ₹75,000, or the salary if the salary is smaller. Someone who is not salaried does not get it. The new regime does not change these bands for age.

Work a taxable income of ₹12.25 lakh, which is what a ₹13 lakh salary becomes after ₹75,000.

• The first ₹4 lakh is nil.
• The next ₹4 lakh, up to ₹8 lakh, is at 5%. That is ₹20,000.
• The next ₹4 lakh, up to ₹12 lakh, is at 10%. That is ₹40,000.
• The last ₹25,000 is at 15%. That is ₹3,750.

Slab tax is ₹63,750. The calculator reports ₹63,750 for a ₹13 lakh salary, which is this sum. The rebate then cuts it. Do not stop at the slab tax and call that the bill.

A taxable income of ₹23,25,000 sits on the ₹24 lakh line if the salary is ₹24,00,000. The 30% band starts only on the rupee above ₹24 lakh. A salary of ₹25,00,000 has taxable income of ₹24,25,000, so ₹25,000 is in the 30% band. The bill for that salary, after cess, is ₹3,19,800. The bill at ₹24,00,000 of salary is ₹2,92,500.

The section 156 rebate

For a resident in the new regime, if total income is ₹12,00,000 or less, the rebate is the tax or ₹60,000, whichever is smaller. The slabs above ₹4 lakh never produce more than ₹60,000 of tax by the time income reaches ₹12 lakh, so the bill before cess is zero.

A salary of ₹12,75,000 minus ₹75,000 is ₹12,00,000. The rebate is ₹60,000. Total tax is ₹0.

A person who is not salaried, with income of ₹13,00,000, has no standard deduction. Taxable income stays ₹13,00,000. That is above ₹12 lakh, so the full rebate does not apply. Slab tax is ₹75,000. After marginal relief the tax before cess is ₹75,000. Cess is ₹3,000. The bill is ₹78,000.

A non-resident does not get this rebate at all.

Marginal relief just above ₹12 lakh

Above ₹12 lakh, section 156 does not give a flat rebate. It says the income tax, before cess, cannot be more than the amount by which income exceeds ₹12 lakh.

On the ₹13 lakh salary, taxable income is ₹12,25,000. That is ₹25,000 above ₹12 lakh. Slab tax is ₹63,750. The relief is ₹38,750, which brings tax after the rebate down to ₹25,000. Cess at 4% is ₹1,000. The bill is ₹26,000.

Check the same rule one step earlier. A salary of ₹12,80,000 has taxable income of ₹12,05,000. The amount above ₹12 lakh is ₹5,000. Slab tax is ₹60,750. Relief brings the tax before cess to ₹5,000. Cess is ₹200. The bill is ₹5,200.

The cess is the reason the bill is a little more than the income above ₹12 lakh. ₹25,000 of tax becomes ₹26,000 after 4%. The memorandum says cess has no marginal relief. The calculator does not invent a second relief to cancel that ₹1,000.

Once taxable income is high enough that slab tax is already less than the excess over ₹12 lakh, the relief drops to zero. A salary of ₹15,00,000 has taxable income of ₹14,25,000 and a rebate of ₹0. The bill is ₹97,500, which is slab tax plus cess.

Old regime slabs

The old regime is the one you choose when you do not want section 202. For a resident under 60, and for a non-resident of any age, the bands are:

Table: Old regime slabs, resident under 60, FY 2026-27

A resident from 60 to 79 has a nil band of ₹3 lakh. The 5% band then runs from ₹3 lakh to ₹5 lakh. A resident aged 80 or older has a nil band of ₹5 lakh, and the next band is 20% up to ₹10 lakh. The standard deduction, where salary is taxed outside section 202, is ₹50,000.

The old rebate is smaller and it stops dead. If total income is ₹5,00,000 or less, a resident gets a rebate of the tax or ₹12,500, whichever is smaller. There is no marginal relief at this line.

Income of ₹5,00,000, with no deductions and no salary standard deduction, has tax of ₹0. One rupee more, ₹5,00,001, the rebate drops. Tax is ₹13,000. That cliff is why a deduction that pulls old-regime income from just above ₹5 lakh to ₹5 lakh can change the bill by more than the deduction’s own 5%.

Surcharge, then cess

Surcharge is a percentage of the tax after the rebate. It starts when total income is above ₹50 lakh. The test is strict. Income of ₹50 lakh itself is not above the line.

In the new regime the rates are 10% above ₹50 lakh, 15% above ₹1 crore, and 25% above ₹2 crore. There is no 37% band. The old regime adds 37% above ₹5 crore.

Near each line, tax plus surcharge cannot rise by more than the income above that line. That is surcharge marginal relief. It uses the tax at the threshold, including the lower surcharge if that threshold already had one. Cess is applied after this relief, at 4%, and the cess is not given a relief of its own.

Special-rate gains, such as listed equity, have their own surcharge cap of 15%. The slab calculator leaves those gains out. The capital gains guide covers them. Section 156 does not wipe tax under the equity sections.

A family, and a return that is not one salary

A Hindu undivided family can be taxed on the same slab rates. The higher old-regime nil band for age 60, and the higher one for age 80, are for a resident individual. They are not for an HUF. The age buttons on the calculator are for that individual. Do not use them on a joint-family return and expect the nil band to move.

The page is also one person’s normal income. A partner’s share of a firm, a salary from more than one employer that needs both forms added, or a return with business income and the tighter rule on switching regime, is outside the worked examples. Add those incomes first, then use the slabs on the total that belongs in the slab computation.

What to type, and what this page leaves out

Type income before the standard deduction. Mark whether it is salary. The calculator subtracts ₹75,000 or ₹50,000 itself. If you subtract it first, and then also tick salaried, the deduction is taken twice.

Leave out capital gains that are taxed at 12.5% or 20%. Leave out the rebate. The page applies section 156.

The section 126 box on the calculator uses one combined ceiling of ₹1,00,000. It does not split self, family, parents, or the preventive check-up. Professional tax above ₹2,500 is cut back to that amount because Article 276 stops a state there. If you paid a different figure and you are sure it is allowed, do not rely on that cap.

A company, a firm, or a complicated return with business income and a switch restriction is outside this page. The figures were checked on 28 October 2026 against the Act as amended by the Finance Act, 2026, and the Finance Bill 2026 memorandum. The section number guide lists the old names you will still see on forms.