I-T dept launches e-calculator to compare due tax under new, old regime

The Income-Tax Department has launched an e-calculator for individuals to estimate their tax liability if they opt for the new tax slabs, without claiming deductions and exemptions, for ITR filing as announced in the recent Budget, officials said on Thursday.

The calculator, with a comparative table to compare taxes in the old and the new tax regime, for resident individuals (financial year 2020-21) has been hosted on the official e-filing website of the department--https://www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in.

The web portal is used for filing of electronic income tax returns (ITRs) by individuals and various other categories of taxpayers.

Taxpayers in three age categories of normal citizen (below 60 years), senior citizen (60-79 years) and super senior citizen (above 79 years) can punch in their estimated annual income from all sources, total eligible deductions and exemptions to see what will be there total taxable income if they continue in the old regime or opt for the new one.

The calculator takes into account eligible exemptions and deductions, as proposed under the new regime, after being extracted from the Budget memorandum 2020.

In the new personal income tax regime, as proposed by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech on February 1, 5 per cent tax is levied on an annual income between Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh. The tax rate rises to 10 per cent, 15 per cent, 20 per cent and 25 per cent for every Rs 2.5 lakh addition. A 30 per cent tax is charged for income over Rs 15 lakh.

The old or the existing income tax rate regime allows a standard deduction of Rs 50,000 and investment of Rs 1.5 lakh in saving schemes with a rate of 5 per cent, 10 per cent or 30 per cent tax depending on various income levels.