Claim audit · FY 2026-27

“The ₹75,000 standard deduction is available only in the new tax regime”

An employee with ₹14,00,000 of gross salary computes tax in both regimes. Under the new regime, the ₹75,000 standard deduction under section 16(ia) brings total income to ₹14,00,000 minus ₹75,000, which is ₹13,25,000. Under the old regime, the same ₹75,000 applies — the deduction is not regime-specific — bringing old-regime total income to ₹13,25,000 before any 80C, 80D or HRA items, after which the old-regime slabs apply. A taxpayer who switches back to the old regime and believes the ₹75,000 disappears would be wrong: section 16(ia) is available in both, which is why the deduction shows up identically in either regime's computation. The confusion arose because the deduction was enhanced to ₹75,000 in the same Finance Act cycle that made the new regime the default. Separately, a family pensioner receiving ₹3,60,000 a year does not get the ₹75,000 salary deduction, because family pension is not salary, but claims a flat ₹25,000 under section 57(iia), making taxable family pension ₹3,60,000 minus ₹25,000, which is ₹3,35,000. The viral framing that the ₹75,000 belongs only to the new regime is the trap; the statute grants it regardless of regime choice.