Income Tax & ITR

Yes, in the new regime, for a resident individual. Tax on Rs 12 lakh works out to Rs 60,000 (5% of Rs 4 lakh plus 10% of Rs 4 lakh), and the section 156 rebate wipes out exactly that. If you're salaried, add the Rs 75,000 standard deduction: a salary of Rs 12.75 lakh still lands at zero.

You don't fall off a cliff. Marginal relief caps your tax at the amount by which income crosses Rs 12 lakh. Take Rs 12.10 lakh. Slab tax is Rs 61,500, but you pay only Rs 10,000, or Rs 10,400 with 4% cess. The relief fades out at about Rs 12.71 lakh, where slab tax and the excess become equal.

Usually not, unless your deductions are large. Take a Rs 15 lakh salary with Rs 1.5 lakh under section 123 (old 80C), Rs 2 lakh of home loan interest and Rs 25,000 of health cover. The old regime leaves Rs 10.75 lakh taxable and a bill of Rs 1,40,400 with cess. The new regime taxes Rs 14.25 lakh and charges Rs 97,500. That's Rs 42,900 in favour of the new regime. At this salary you'd need roughly Rs 5.94 lakh of total deductions, standard deduction included, before the old regime wins.

Not fully. The rebate can't exceed tax worked out at the normal new-regime slab rates, so income taxed at special rates, such as gains on listed shares and equity funds, generally doesn't get it. Someone with Rs 9 lakh of salary income and a big equity gain can owe tax on the gain even though the total is under Rs 12 lakh.

If you're salaried with no business income, yes. You choose when you file each year's return. Business and professional income is stricter. Opting out of the new regime has to happen by the return due date, the choice carries forward, and you can withdraw it only once. After that you're locked in unless the business income stops.

No. The Rs 1.5 lakh deduction for PPF, ELSS, EPF and life cover (section 80C, now section 123) works only in the old regime. Keep investing if the product suits you. Just don't count on the tax break.

You can still file a belated return. Expect a Rs 5,000 late fee, cut to Rs 1,000 if total income is up to Rs 5 lakh, plus interest on any unpaid tax. You may also lose the right to carry forward some losses, and a late filer generally can't pick the old regime. Our missed-deadline guide walks through the fix.

Two layers. Direct taxes such as income tax fall on what you earn and are run by the Central Board of Direct Taxes. Indirect taxes, mainly GST, sit inside the price of what you buy. Since 1 April 2026, income tax runs under the Income-tax Act, 2025, which replaced the 1961 Act.

Refunds, mostly. If your bank cut TDS on FD interest, the return is how you get it back. Lenders and visa officers also ask for ITRs as income proof, and a filed return keeps your loss carry-forward alive.