Where every number comes from

New tax regime

• standardDeduction: Salaried taxpayers and pensioners only. Not available against business or freelance income.
• maxTotalIncome: Applies to total income AFTER the standard deduction, which is why a salary of ₹12.75 lakh can still pay nil tax.

Old tax regime

surchargeCapSpecialRateIncome

• surchargeCapSpecialRateIncome: The 25% and 37% surcharge bands never apply to capital gains or dividend income.

Cess

Deductions

• section80C: Old regime only. The ceiling is shared across EPF, PPF, ELSS, life premium, principal on a home loan, tuition fees and 5-year tax-saving FDs.
• section80CCD1B: Old regime only. Over and above the ₹1.5 lakh s.80C ceiling.
• preventiveHealthCheckup: Within, not in addition to, the overall s.80D ceiling.
• section80EMaxYears: No monetary cap; runs for 8 tax years beginning with the year interest is first paid — which is earlier than the first EMI if interest is serviced during the moratorium.
• section80CCD2NewRegime: The one significant deduction that survives in the new regime.

House Rent Allowance

Provident fund

• wageCeilingMonthly: Proposals to raise this to ₹21,000 or ₹25,000 have been reported but had not been notified as at the verification date. Re-check before each Budget cycle.
• interestRate: Declared annually and credited after ratification. The FY 2026-27 rate is not yet declared; projections use the last declared rate and say so.
• taxFreeContributionCeiling: ₹5,00,000 where the employer makes no contribution.

Gratuity

• minimumYearsOfService: Waived where service ends due to death or disablement.

Small savings rates (reset quarterly)

• kisanVikasPatra: Maturity period moves with the rate; currently 115 months.

PPF rules

Sukanya Samriddhi

• maxAccountsPerFamily: A third account is permitted for twins or triplets.

National Pension System

Capital gains

• vdaRate: No deduction other than cost of acquisition. Losses cannot be set off against anything, or carried forward.

GST

• slabs: The 12% and 28% slabs were merged away; 40% applies to a narrow demerit and luxury list.

Presumptive taxation

Deposits and TDS

• dicgcLimit: Covers principal and interest together, aggregated across all branches of the same bank, in the same right and capacity.
• tdsRateBankInterest: 20% where PAN is not furnished. TDS is not the final tax — the interest is still taxable at your slab rate.

Professional tax

• annualCeiling: Levied by states, so the actual amount and slab structure vary. Some states levy none at all.