Income tax
If your annual earnings are Rs 15 lakh and you feel that the government will have to pay huge amount in the name of income tax, then you do not need to panic. With a little understanding and correct plan, you can reduce your taxable income so much that you will not have to pay even a single penny.
The last date for filing income tax returns is 15 September 2025, that is, now there is only one day left. If you have not yet filled your return, then start preparing as soon as possible. The government has given certain exemption and options in the new tax rules, due to which the tax can be saved on income up to Rs 15 lakh.
No income tax on income up to 12 lakhs
While presenting the general budget of 2025-26, the Finance Minister announced a new income tax slab. According to this announcement, no income tax will have to be paid on income of up to 12 lakhs annually in the new tax regime. Standard deduction for salary class has been kept at Rs 75 thousand, in this sense, income of up to Rs 12 lakh 75 thousand of salary class will be free. That is, the employee whose annual earnings are 12 lakh 75 thousand rupees, they will not have to pay any tax.
These are effective ways to save tax
First comes standard deduction, under which every employee gets a discount of Rs 75,000. This means that 75 thousand rupees will be reduced directly from your total salary. Then comes the National Pension System (NPS), in which your boss deposits 14% of your basic salary and dearness allowance in your NPS account. On this you get great relief in tax. Suppose your basic salary is 7.5 lakhs, then you can get a discount of up to Rs 1.05 lakh from NPS.
After this, when the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), the boss deposits 12% of your basic salary and dearness allowance in EPF, which also gets tax exemption. If your basic salary is 7.5 lakhs, then you can get a tax savings of about Rs 90,000 through EPF. Apart from this, you can also include the expenses of entertainment, food, petrol and transport in the salary by talking to your company’s HR, you have to cut up to Rs 30,000.
How to make a salary tax free of 15 lakhs?
Suppose your total salary is Rs 15 lakh, then first take a standard deduction of Rs 75,000, then your taxable income will be Rs 14,25,000. Then under the exemption of NPS, reduce Rs 1,05,000, then taxable income is Rs 13,20,000. If you cut Rs 90,000 under EPF, then you will save Rs 12,30,000. Finally, reduce Rs 30,000 by adding entertainment and food expenses. This makes your taxable income 12 lakh rupees. Now according to the new tax slab, the tax liability on income of Rs 12 lakh becomes completely zero.