The budget announced by the Finance Minister in 2023 had a few significant changes overall in personal finance management and in the tax slabs under the new income tax regime.
An income tax slab is a predefined range of income levels, each subject to a specific tax rate. In progressive tax systems, like in many countries, including India, higher income levels are taxed at higher rates. Taxpayers calculate their income tax liability based on their income within these slabs.
These income tax slab rates undergo regular revisions, usually as part of each budget. In this blog, let's examine the applicable slab rates for Financial Year 2023-24 and Assessment Year 2024-25.
The new tax regime proposed in 2023 allows a standard deduction of ₹50,000 to salaried professionals. So someone with an income of ₹7.5 lakh can claim a standard deduction of ₹50K and bring the taxable income down to ₹7 lakh. This makes them eligible to pay no tax as per the revised new tax regime.
The new regime does not allow you to claim tax exemptions on your income through instruments like ELSS mutual funds or NPS because the revised new tax regime of 2023 already saves you a lot of tax under the consolidated slabs.
Learn more about the New Tax Regime to decide if you want to opt for it and the exemption list.
This entirely depends on your annual income and deductions. For instance, if you’re someone who gets between ₹12-15 lakh per year, in the Old Regime you will fall under the 30% tax bracket. But in the new regime, you come under the 20% bracket. Another key difference is that in the old regime you have the option of making savings that exempt a part of your income from tax, such as Sections 80CCE and 80CCD of the Income Tax Act. Overall, if you’re making more than ₹10 lakh per annum, you could consider the new regime.
The new tax regime might work better for those who make more than ₹10 lakh per year. In the old regime, anyone making over ₹10 lakh will be taxed at 30%. So, this depends on your income as well as the amount you stand to save on tax through the regime you choose.
This depends on how much you make annually, and also how much you stand to save on tax through either regime. Generally speaking, if your salary is more than ₹10-₹11 lakh per year, the new tax regime will save you more taxes. Here’s some quick back-of-the-napkin math you can do: Let’s say you make ₹12 lakh per year. Your tax is ₹1.17 lakh in the old regime, considering a standard deduction of ₹50,000 and and additional deduction of ₹1,50,000 under 80c. In the new regime, your tax outgo stands at ₹85,800. Even if you max out the exemptions under the old tax regime, the new tax regime will suit you better.
The new regime works great for those making more than ₹10-₹11 lakh a year. But if your income is less than that, you may have to pay more in the new regime than the old. This is because you can offset this taxable income by investing in tax saving schemes such as the PPF, NPS, or the various other instruments under the different sections of the Income Tax Act - if you choose the old regime.
