CTC to in-hand salary calculator

Find your actual monthly take-home pay from your CTC, under both tax regimes.

Last reviewed: August 2026 · Figures are estimates for general planning only — see the explanation below for this calculator's specific assumptions.

Annual CTC (₹)

Basic salary (% of CTC)

40%

Bonus / variable pay (% of CTC)

Employer PF contribution

Section 80C investments, incl. your own PF (old regime only) (₹)

Section 80D health insurance (old regime only) (₹)

Other deductions (old regime only) (₹)

Professional tax (varies by state — use 0 if yours has none) (₹)

on a CTC of ₹12,00,000, your in-hand pay works out to about ₹88,277 a month under the new regime, or ₹76,725 under the old regime — after employer PF, gratuity provision, employee PF, tax, and professional tax are set aside. See the full regime comparison on a plain gross income, without the CTC breakdown

Why in-hand pay is lower than CTC

CTC (Cost to Company) is the full cost of employing you, not what lands in your account. Before you see a rupee, your employer sets aside money for its own contribution to your provident fund and a gratuity provision — both real parts of CTC that never reach your monthly pay. What's left (your gross salary) is then reduced further by income tax, your own PF contribution, and professional tax to arrive at what you actually take home.

How this calculator estimates it

Basic salary is assumed to be a percentage of CTC (commonly 30-50%, default 40% here) since most components — HRA, PF, and gratuity — are calculated off basic, not the full CTC. Employer PF is 12% of basic (or a fixed ₹1,800/month if your employer uses the PF ceiling option for higher earners), and the gratuity provision uses the same 15/26-of-a-month's-basic-per-year rate used in the Payment of Gratuity Act — about 4.81% of basic annually. Tax is calculated under both regimes using the same logic as the Income Tax calculator, so you can see which one leaves you better off on this specific CTC.

What this does not model

This is a good estimate, not a payslip replica. It does not account for LTA, meal or fuel cards, ESOP value, NPS employer contributions under Section 80CCD(2), or the exact timing of variable pay — all of which vary by company and can shift the real number. Professional tax also varies by state (some states charge none); the default here is a common approximate figure, not a lookup for your specific state.

A note on the old regime figure

Your own PF contribution is itself a Section 80C investment under the old regime — it is not automatically subtracted from taxable income before tax is calculated here. If you want an accurate old-regime comparison, include your own PF contribution inside the Section 80C field (up to the ₹1.5 lakh cap) rather than expecting it to be added for you.

Frequently asked questions

What's the difference between CTC, gross salary, and net (in-hand) salary?

CTC is the total cost of employing you, including money you never directly receive (employer PF, gratuity provision). Gross salary is what's left after those are set aside — still before tax and your own PF deduction. Net or in-hand salary is what actually lands in your account after tax, employee PF, and professional tax are deducted from gross.

Why does the basic salary percentage matter so much?

Basic salary is the base most other components are calculated from — employer and employee PF (12% of basic each) and the gratuity provision (about 4.81% of basic) all scale directly with it. A higher basic % generally means more going into PF (which you get back later, but not monthly) and a lower basic % means more of your CTC shows up as flexible or special allowance instead.

Which tax regime gives higher in-hand salary?

The new regime wins in most common cases, including with the full ₹1.5 lakh Section 80C and ₹25,000 Section 80D claimed — its wider slabs and rebate up to ₹12 lakh taxable income are hard to beat with typical deductions. The old regime only pulls ahead once your total deductions (80C + 80D + HRA + home loan interest + others) run considerably higher, roughly ₹6-7 lakh combined at higher CTCs. Try your own numbers in both the Section 80C/80D fields here to see which side of that line you fall on.

Why is my actual in-hand salary different from what this shows?

This calculator models the common structure — basic, employer/employee PF, gratuity provision, tax, professional tax — but real payslips often include LTA, meal or fuel cards, ESOPs, NPS employer contributions, or a different basic percentage than assumed here. Check your actual payslip or offer letter's component breakdown and adjust the basic % and bonus % inputs to match it more closely.