No paid rankings
Methodology disclosed
SEBI-compliant
Editorial standards
Under both old and new regime, if your taxable income is at or below the Section 87A threshold, your tax is exactly ₹0. One rupee over — you lose the entire rebate. Drag the slider below to see exactly what crosses the cliff costs.
At ₹12,00,000 taxable income, your tax is ₹0. At ₹12,00,001 (one rupee higher), your gross tax liability jumps to ₹62,400 — a ₹62,400 cliff. Marginal relief softens the immediate impact but the full liability hits within ~₹50,000–75,000 above the cliff.
Section 87A of the Income Tax Act gives you a tax rebate if your taxable income (after the standard deduction and any chapter VI-A deductions) is at or below a threshold. For FY 2026-27:
The rebate is binary, not graduated. If your taxable income is ₹12,00,000 exactly under the new regime, your tax is ₹0. If it's ₹12,00,001 — the rebate vanishes, and you owe the full slab tax on every rupee above ₹4 lakh. That's a ~₹60,000 jump for one rupee of additional income.
The Income Tax Act provides "marginal relief" above the cliff: your tax cannot exceed the amount of income you earned above the threshold. So at ₹12,00,001 you don't actually pay ₹60,000 — you pay ₹1 in tax (plus cess). The relief is removed gradually as income grows. The cliff feels real-world around ₹12,75,000 (new) or ₹5,15,000 (old) depending on slab geometry. The slider above shows you the point where you've fully crossed.
The Union Budget (Feb 2025) raised the new-regime 87A threshold from ₹7 lakh to ₹12 lakh — the biggest shift to middle-class tax relief in years. The new-regime slabs were also rebuilt (no tax up to ₹4 lakh, 5% to ₹8 lakh, etc.). Old regime was unchanged. That's why the new cliff sits at ₹12 lakh now, not the older ₹7 lakh you may still see referenced.
Old vs new regime auto-picker + ITR form chooser + deductions checklist.
Full year tax under both regimes with slabs, surcharge, and cess.
Old-regime salaried renters — the largest non-80C deduction most miss.
LTCG / STCG with CII for equity, debt MFs, gold, property.
Methodology last verified 2026-04-01 · Union Budget 2025 (Feb 2025) · Source: Income Tax Department
Advertiser Disclosure: InvestingPro.in is an independent comparison platform. We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners (like Banks or AMCs). However, our reviews, ratings, and comparisons are based on objective analysis and are never influenced by compensation.