Salary of 15 lakhs, tax ZERO!
For employed people, saving their hard-earned money from tax is no less than a big challenge. Nowadays, most of the employees are turning towards the new tax regime, because under this, income up to Rs 12.75 lakh can be completely tax free. But what if your annual salary is a little more than this?
Under the new income tax rules applicable for the financial year 2026-27, if you file your income tax return (ITR) by July 31, 2027, your tax liability can become zero even on CTC of Rs 15 lakh. This is not magic, but correct and accurate mathematics of your allowances.
The salary structure formula that will save your entire income
Suppose your annual salary is Rs 15 lakh. If you take a normal salary without any special allowance, your taxable income will be around Rs 13.62 lakh and you will have to pay tax of more than Rs 87,000.
At the same time, according to an assessment by Grant Thornton India, if you ask your HR to make some smart changes in the salary structure, the whole picture will change. By including tax free reimbursements like meal coupons, telephone bills, car maintenance in CTC, your taxable salary can directly come down to Rs 7.5 lakh. This simply means that you will not have to pay even a single rupee of tax to the government, which will increase your monthly in-hand salary.
Great tax rebate will be available on food bill
After the new Income Tax Act 2025, there has been a big change in the discounts available on meal coupons (like Sodexo, Plexi or Jaggle). According to Income Tax Rules 2026, now the tax free limit of meal voucher has been increased from Rs 50 to Rs 200 per meal. This rule is completely valid during lunch or working hours in the office.
Additionally, if your company provides you a laptop, tablet or mobile phone for official work, it is not considered a taxable perquisite. At the same time, the payment of gym benefit or medical insurance premium given by the company is also completely tax free under the new regime.
Along with car maintenance, telephone expenses are also completely tax free.
Reimbursement of telephone or internet bills used for office work is completely tax free in both the tax regimes, provided you submit the original bills to your company.
If we talk about the car given by the company, then there is no tax on using it for official work. If the car is being used for both personal and office purposes, then the tax is calculated according to the engine capacity. According to the new rules, the deduction for a car with a capacity of less than 1.6 liters or an electric car is Rs 5,000, while for a car larger than that, the limit is Rs 7,000. If the company also provides you a driver, an additional Rs 3,000 is added to it.
What do the rules say about traveling to and from office?
Generally, the conveyance allowance received for going from home to office is taxable in the new tax regime. But, if you get any separate allowance for traveling somewhere during your duty and you pay the bill for it, then it comes under the exemption.
At the same time, the facility of transport allowance for disabled employees (such as visually impaired or physically handicapped) still continues. Giving them huge relief in tax, they get a special rebate of Rs 15,000 per month in metro cities and Rs 8,000 per month (with dearness allowance) in other cities.
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