Income Tax Slabs for FY 2025-26 (AY 2026-27)

The income tax return needs to be verified post submission. It is applicable for all types of return original, belated, revised or updated return. It is mandatory to do verify the return within 30 days from the date of filing. Failure to verify the return will be deemed that you have not filed the return at all. One can do the verification either by physically by appending the signature on the ITR acknowledgement form (ITR V) manually and sending it to CPC, Bengaluru by courier or post OR electronically via Aadhaar OTP or EVC (electronic verification code) or Digital signature during or after the submission of Income tax return.

No, HRA exemption u/s10(13A) is not allowed in new tax regime.

For 2024-25 - default regime is new tax regime

If the total income does not include profit and gains from business & profession and new old regime needs to be opted, then one must file Form 10IEA (online form from Income Tax portal) before the submission of income tax return by clicking Yes for “Do you opt out from sec 115BAC(1A)?”, else one must file income tax return only without the requirement to file Form 10IEA. In both the scenarios return must be submitted within the due date.

Yes, if your income is up to ₹ 12,00,000 in the FY 2025-26 you will have zero tax liability. For an income upto ₹4,00,000, the income earned is taxed under NIL rate. But, a rebate of ₹60,000 is allowed for an income earned up-to ₹12,00,000 because of which, the tax liability comes to NIL for an income upto ₹12,00,000.

The new tax regime is the default regime for the FY 2024-25.

The ITR forms are not based on your tax slabs. They are based on the different sources of income and the income level. You can click here to learn about which ITR to file.

The new regime benefits those with fewer deductions due to lower tax rates, while the old regime is better if you claim high deductions like 80C, HRA, and home loan interest.

Yes, salaried taxpayers can choose either regime each year while filing ITR. Business taxpayers can switch only once and revert back only once.

Yes, a standard deduction of ₹75,000 is allowed under the new tax regime.

Under the new regime for FY 2025-26, rebate under Section 87A is available for income up to ₹12 lakh, leading to zero tax liability.

No, the new tax regime does not offer enhanced basic exemption limits for senior or super senior citizens.

No, popular deductions like 80C, 80D, HRA, LTA are not allowed under the new regime, except a few like NPS employer contributions.

For FY 2024-25, income up to ₹3 lakh is exempt under the new regime, with slab rates of 5% (₹3-7 lakh), 10% (₹7-10 lakh), 15% (₹10-12 lakh), 20% (₹12-15 lakh), and 30% (above ₹15 lakh).

For FY 2025-26, income up to ₹4 lakh is exempt under the new regime. Slabs range from 5% (₹4-8 lakh) up to 30% (above ₹24 lakh), with a new 25% slab introduced for ₹20-24 lakh income.

Taxes are collected by the Government through three means: 

• Voluntary payment by taxpayers through various designated Banks. For example, Advance Tax and Self Assessment Tax payments,
• Taxes deducted at source [TDS] and 
• Taxes collected at source [TCS].

 Even if your income is below the exemption limit, you must file your ITR if any of these conditions apply to you.

No, the due date for all the taxpayers is not the same. For individual taxpayers for whom tax audit is not applicable, the due date is 31st July of the assessment year unless extended by the government.

Section 87A is a legal provision which allows for tax rebates under the Income Tax Act of 1961. The section, which was inserted through the Finance Act of 2013, provides tax relief for individuals earning below a specified limit. Section 87 A provides that anyone who is residing in India and whose income does not exceed Rs 5,00,000 is eligible to claim a rebate. Thus full income tax rebate is available to individuals with less than Rs 5 Lakh of total taxable income under the old regime, whereas under the new tax regime, the income limit is Rs. 7,00,000. This rebate is applicable only to individuals and not companies, etc and is calculated before adding the health and educational cess of 4 %.

Yes, IT slab rates can be changed by the government. If there are changes in IT slab rates for the financial year, then they are introduced in the Budget and presented in Parliament.

The Income-tax law has two important terms: (i) Previous year and (ii) Assessment year. It is extremely important for determining the taxpayer's income and tax payable amount.        
(i) Previous year: The previous year is the year in which the income is earned which typically starts on 1st April and ends on 31st March. Whereas, the year immediately following the previous year (1st April to 31st March) is known as ‘Assessment Year’.           
For example, the current previous year is from 1st April 2023 to 31st March 2024, i.e. FY 2023-24. The corresponding assessment year is 1st April 2024 to 31st March 2025, i.e. AY 2024-25.

Income tax law has prescribed a basic exemption limit for individuals up to which the taxpayers are not required to pay taxes. Such a limit is different for different categories of taxpayers under old tax regime. Individual below 60 years of age are not required to pay tax upto the income limit of Rs 2.5 Lakh. Individuals above 60 years but less than 80 years of age are not required to pay tax upto Rs 3 lakh of income. Individuals above 80 years are not required to pay tax upto Rs 5 lakh of income. The basic exemption limit for all the individuals under the new tax regime is Rs 3 lakh, irrespective of age.

The surcharge is a tax on tax. Hence surcharge is calculated on the tax payable and not on the income earned. For example, if you have an income of Rs 1000 with 30% tax of Rs. 300, if the income is subject to surcharge then 10% surcharge would be levied on tax of Rs. 300 i.e. Rs 30. Surcharge is levied at different rates i.e 

• 10% is levied is total income is > 50 lakh, 
• 15% is levied if total income is more than 1 crore, 
• 25% of income if total income is > 2 crores.

Individual above the age of 60 years is regarded as a senior citizen whereas an individual above 80 years is regarded as a super senior citizen for the purpose of income tax. Senior citizens and super senior citizens have been provided higher tax exemption limits and specific benefits by the income tax law in order to provide some relief.

 Taxpayers have the freedom to select the tax regimes, if one needs to opt for the old regime and claim deductions, exemptions, and losses must file their income tax returns by opting out of the new regime.  For employees, the choice needs to be made at the beginning of the year and can be modified at the time of ITR filing. However, if you are engaged in business or profession, the option to switch to the Old Tax regime is available only once in your lifetime. We recommend that you carefully evaluate your tax outgo under both regimes and then select the one which is most beneficial to you.

There are differential process to opt in for tax regimes between FY 2022-23 and FY 2023-24.

For 2022-23 - default regime is old tax regime

If the total income does not include profit and gains from business & profession and new tax regime needs to be opted, then one must file Form 10IE (online form from Income Tax portal) before the submission of income tax return by clicking Yes for “Do you opt for sec 115BAC(1)?”, else one must file income tax return only without the requirement to file Form 10IE. In both the scenarios return must be submitted within the due date.

For 2023-24 - default regime is new tax regime

If the total income does not include profit and gains from business & profession and new old regime needs to be opted, then one must file Form 10IEA (online form from Income Tax portal) before the submission of income tax return by clicking Yes for “Do you opt out from sec 115BAC(1A)?”, else one must file income tax return only without the requirement to file Form 10IEA. In both the scenarios return must be submitted within the due date.

Yes. The new tax regime has been revised in the Budget 2024 for FY 24-25 as follows: Up to Rs. 3 Lakh - Nil, Rs. 3 Lakh to Rs. 7 Lakh at 5%, Rs. 7 Lakh to Rs. 10 Lakh at 10%, Rs. 10 Lakh to Rs. 12 Lakh at 15%, Rs. 12 Lakh to Rs. 15 Lakh at 20%, and income above Rs. 15 Lakh at 30%.