पुरानी या नई कर व्यवस्था — आपके लिए कौन सस्ती है?
नई कर व्यवस्था में दरें कम हैं पर कटौतियाँ लगभग नहीं; पुरानी में दरें अधिक हैं पर 80C, 80D, एचआरए और गृह ऋण ब्याज मिलते हैं। कौन-सी सस्ती पड़ेगी यह गणित है, पसंद नहीं, और उत्तर इस पर बदलता है कि आप वास्तव में कितनी कटौती लेते हैं — मोटे तौर पर, गृह ऋण और पूरा 80C वाले व्यक्ति के लिए पुरानी बेहतर रहती है, और कम कटौती वालों के लिए नई। यदि व्यावसायिक आय नहीं है तो आप हर वर्ष चुन सकते हैं।
बिंदुवार तुलना
| मानदंड | New regimeLower rates, standard deduction only. The default. | Old regimeHigher rates, the full set of deductions. |
|---|---|---|
| Basic exemption | ₹3,00,000 | ₹2,50,000 |
| Standard deduction on salary | ₹75,000 | ₹50,000 |
| Section 80C — PF, ELSS, insurance, tuition | Not available | Up to ₹1,50,000 |
| Section 80D — health insurance | Not available | ₹25,000, or ₹50,000 for a senior citizen |
| Home loan interest, self-occupied | Not available | Up to ₹2,00,000 under section 24(b) |
| HRA exemption | Not available | Available under section 10(13A) |
| NPS employer contribution | Available up to 14% of salary under 80CCD(2) | Available up to 10% of salary under 80CCD(2) |
| Home loan interest, let-out property | Set-off restricted | Full interest deductible |
| Switching between years | Free each year if you have no business income | Free each year if you have no business income |
| Default if you say nothing | This one | Must be opted into |
कुछ पंक्तियों पर टिप्पणी
Section 80C — PF, ELSS, insurance, tuition. For most salaried people PF alone fills a large part of 80C, so this is a deduction you are already earning whether or not you claim it.
Home loan interest, self-occupied. This single deduction is what decides the answer for most people with a home loan.
Switching between years. With business income you may switch out of the new regime once, and back once. After that the choice is fixed.
सिफ़ारिश
किसे क्या चुनना चाहिए
नीचे स्थिति के अनुसार स्पष्ट उत्तर हैं। जहाँ उत्तर पलटता है, वह भी लिखा है।
यदि
You have a home loan on a self-occupied house and full 80C
Old regime
₹2,00,000 of interest plus ₹1,50,000 of 80C plus HRA is deduction the new regime cannot match, and it usually outweighs the rate difference by a wide margin.
यदि
You rent, have no home loan, and 80C is only your PF
New regime
The higher exemption and the ₹75,000 standard deduction beat a partly-used 80C, and you avoid buying financial products you did not want in order to fill it.
यदि
You are early in your career with income under ₹8 lakh
New regime
The rebate under section 87A takes the liability to nil in the new regime at income levels where the old regime still charges something.
यदि
You pay significant rent in a metro and claim HRA
Old regime, usually — but compute it
HRA in a metro can be a very large exemption, and it is the one case where the answer is genuinely close enough that it has to be worked out rather than assumed.
The decision is arithmetic, and it changes every year
There is no permanently correct answer. The slabs move with each Finance Act, and your own deductions move with your life — a home loan starts, a child's tuition ends, an insurance premium changes. A choice made three years ago on that year's numbers is not evidence about this year.
The correct method is dull and reliable: compute your liability under both regimes on your actual figures for the year, and pick the lower one. That is a ten-minute exercise with the right inputs, and it is what we do on every salaried return we file.
The break-even is a range, not a number
People look for a single income above which the old regime wins. There is no such number, because the answer depends on deductions rather than income. What exists is a break-even in total deductions: broadly, if your deductions under the old regime come to more than roughly ₹3,50,000 to ₹4,00,000, the old regime tends to win; below that the new one does.
That range is a guide for whether it is worth computing, not a substitute for computing. Two people on identical salaries with different housing arrangements land on different sides of it.
What switching actually costs
A salaried person with no business income may choose afresh every year, at the time of filing, regardless of what they told their employer. The declaration made to payroll in April affects how much TDS is deducted, not what you may claim in the return.
Business and professional income is different. Once you opt out of the new regime you may return to it only once, and after that the choice is locked. That makes the decision worth taking properly the first time rather than annually.
The trap in the old regime
The old regime rewards deductions, and that creates a pull towards buying financial products in March purely to fill 80C. An insurance policy bought to save ₹30,000 of tax, which locks up ₹1,50,000 a year for fifteen years at a poor return, is not a saving.
Claim what you already have. If the old regime only wins because of a product you would not otherwise buy, the new regime is the better answer.
इस निर्णय में आम ग़लतियाँ
- Choosing once and never recomputing, when the slabs and your own deductions both move
- Assuming the regime declared to payroll in April binds the return — it does not, for a salaried filer
- Buying an insurance or ELSS product in March purely to justify the old regime
- Forgetting that the new regime is the default, so saying nothing means choosing it
- For business income, opting out casually and discovering the choice is then locked