Old regime or new: deciding in ten minutes

What each regime trades away

The new regime gives you wider slabs, lower rates, a ₹75,000 standard deduction and a rebate that takes tax to zero up to ₹12,00,000 of taxable income. In exchange it removes almost every deduction — 80C, 80D, HRA, home loan interest on a self-occupied property.

The old regime keeps all of those but taxes the remainder harder, and its standard deduction is ₹50,000. The choice therefore reduces to a single question: are your genuine deductions large enough to beat the rate advantage?

Count only the deductions you would claim anyway

The mistake is counting deductions you would have to manufacture. An insurance policy bought purely to fill 80C is not a deduction; it is an expense that happens to be deductible, and usually a poor one.

Count what already exists: EPF contributions, a home loan you were always going to service, health premiums you genuinely need, rent you genuinely pay. If that total is modest, the new regime almost always wins.

Already there

EPF, term insurance premium, health cover, home loan principal and interest, HRA on rent you actually pay, children's tuition fees.

Be suspicious of

Endowment and money-back policies bought for 80C, five-year tax-saver deposits at rates below inflation, and any product sold to you in the last week of March.

Run the comparison, don't reason about it

The interaction between slabs, the standard deduction, the 87A rebate and marginal relief is not something to do in your head. Put your gross income and your real deductions into a calculator that computes both regimes on the same figures and read the difference in rupees.

Do it once a year before the first payroll declaration. The regime you chose last year is not automatically right this year, particularly if your loan has amortised, your rent has changed, or your income has crossed a slab.