₹15 Lakh Salary Tax Under New and Old Regimes: People earning ₹15 lakh a year reduced their tax by using benefits like Section 80C, NPS, HRA, health insurance and home loan deductions. But after Budget 2025, the new tax regime has become a more attractive option for many salaried taxpayers.
The government now gives a ₹75,000 standard deduction in the new regime, and salaried taxpayers can even have no income tax up to ₹12.75 lakh because of the higher rebate and standard deduction. The new slab structure starts at 0-4 lakh at nil tax, then moves to 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, and 30%.
Balwant Jain, tax and investment expert, said, “The new tax regime does not offer many tax-saving avenues. Apart from the ₹75,000 standard deduction, the higher basic exemption limit of ₹4 lakh and eligible employer contributions, there is very little available,” and he added, “The old regime continues to provide deductions such as HRA, LTA, Section 80C benefits, additional NPS deductions and medical insurance deductions”.
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The official tax rules back this up. Under the old regime, standard deduction is ₹50,000, Section 80C is capped at ₹1.5 lakh, the extra NPS deduction under Section 80CCD(1B) is ₹50,000, and HRA can be claimed only when the worker actually pays rent and meets the set conditions.
New tax regime slabs (FY 2025-26)
| Income slab | Tax Rate |
| Up to ₹4 lakh | Nil |
| ₹4 lakh to ₹8 lakh | 5% |
| ₹8 lakh to ₹12 lakh | 10% |
| ₹12 lakh to ₹16 lakh | 15% |
| ₹16 lakh to ₹20 lakh | 20% |
| ₹20 lakh to ₹24 lakh | 25% |
| Above ₹24 lakh | 30% |
Old tax regime slabs
| Income slab | Tax Rate |
| Up to ₹2.5 lakh | Nil |
| ₹2.5 lakh to ₹5 lakh | 5% |
| ₹5 lakh to ₹10 lakh | 20% |
| Above ₹10 lakh | 30% |
What happens at ₹15 lakh salary
The tax gap becomes clear when the same salary is compared under both systems. In the new regime, the taxable income becomes ₹14.25 lakh after the ₹75,000 standard deduction. In the old regime, the same salary becomes ₹14.5 lakh after the ₹50,000 standard deduction.
That small difference in deductions does not help the old regime much, because its tax rates are still higher. Based on the official slab rates, the new regime works out to about ₹97,500 total tax with 4% cess, while the old regime without extra deductions comes to about ₹2.57 lakh.
| Situation | Taxable income | Tax before cess | Cess @ 4% | Total tax |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New regime, only standard deduction | ₹14.25 lakh | ₹93,750 | ₹3,750 | ₹97,500 |
| Old regime, only standard deduction | ₹14.5 lakh | ₹2,47,500 | ₹9,900 | ₹2,57,400 |
| Old regime with ₹1.5 lakh 80C + ₹50,000 NPS + ₹25,000 health cover | ₹12.25 lakh | ₹1,80,000 | ₹7,200 | ₹1,87,200 |
These figures are simple estimates using the official tax slabs and deduction rules. In this salary band, the old regime starts making better sense only when deductions and exemptions become very large.
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When does the Old Regime still help?
The old regime can still work well for people who have a home loan, pay rent, invest a lot, or use many tax-saving benefits together. HRA can be a big help for renters. The Income Tax Department says HRA exemption is linked to actual HRA received, rent paid minus 10% of salary, and 40% of salary in non-metro cities or 50% in metro cities.
Jain also said, “If a person earning ₹15 lakh has a basic salary of around ₹7.5 lakh, then up to 50% of the basic salary can be considered for HRA calculations in metro cities and 40% in non-metro cities,”. Home loan interest can also matter a lot, since the old regime allows up to ₹2 lakh deduction on interest for a self-occupied home in many cases.
