In-Hand Salary Calculator (CTC to Take-Home)

CTC vs in-hand salary

Your CTC (Cost to Company) is the total a company spends on you in a year — but it is not what lands in your bank account. In-hand (take-home) salary is CTC minus the parts you never receive as monthly cash: the employer's provident-fund contribution, the gratuity provision, and the deductions taken from your salary — your own PF, professional tax and income tax (TDS).

In-hand, take-home, net salary — are they different?

No. In-hand salary, take-home salary and net salary all mean the same thing: the amount credited to your account each month after every deduction. Indian offer letters and payroll systems use the terms interchangeably, which is why the same question gets asked three different ways.

The two figures that genuinely differ are gross salary and CTC. Gross is your salary before deductions but after removing the employer-side costs; CTC includes those employer costs on top. So the chain runs:

CTC → (less employer PF & gratuity) → Gross → (less your PF, professional tax, income tax) → In-hand

In-hand salary after tax

Income tax is usually the largest single deduction, and it is the one people most often forget when comparing offers. It is deducted monthly as TDS, so the tax you owe for the year is spread across your payslips rather than billed at the end.

This calculator applies the new regime for FY 2026-27, including the ₹75,000 standard deduction and the Section 87A rebate that takes tax to zero up to ₹12,00,000 of taxable income. That rebate is the reason take-home does not fall smoothly as CTC rises — there is a distinct step once you move past it. If you claim significant deductions such as HRA, 80C or home-loan interest, the old regime may still leave you better off; compare both with the income tax calculator before assuming the default is best for you.

CTC to in-hand salary: what each package actually pays

The quickest way to read your own offer is against a band table. Every row below assumes basic pay at 50% of CTC, the new tax regime, employee and employer PF at 12% of basic, and professional tax of ₹2,400 a year.

₹5 LPA in hand salary

A ₹5 LPA package pays about ₹35,465 a month — ₹4,25,575 for the year, or 85.1% of CTC. There is no income tax at this level under the new regime, so the deductions are your ₹30,000 annual PF contribution, employer PF and gratuity taken out of CTC first, and ₹2,400 of professional tax.

₹10 LPA in hand salary

A ₹10 LPA package pays roughly ₹71,129 a month, or ₹8,53,550 a year — still 85.4% of CTC, and still no income tax. Your PF contribution rises to ₹60,000 a year, which is why the monthly figure is not simply ten-twelfths of the package.

₹12 LPA in hand salary

A ₹12 LPA package pays about ₹85,395 a month, or ₹10,24,740 a year. This is the last rung with zero income tax — the 87A rebate still covers the whole liability here, so ₹12 LPA remains the most tax-efficient package band in India.

₹20 LPA in hand salary

A ₹20 LPA package pays around ₹1,29,339 a month, or ₹15,52,065 a year — 77.6% of CTC, with ₹1,57,435 going to income tax. The share you keep has now dropped nearly eight percentage points from the ₹12 LPA level.

Working backwards: what CTC do you need for a target take-home?

Offers are quoted in CTC but budgets are set in monthly cash, so the reverse question comes up just as often. Working from a monthly in-hand target back to the package required:

A rough rule for packages below ₹12 LPA, where no tax applies: divide the CTC by 14 to approximate monthly in-hand. ₹5 LPA ÷ 14 ≈ ₹35,700 against an actual ₹35,465; ₹10 LPA ÷ 14 ≈ ₹71,400 against ₹71,129. Above ₹12 LPA tax breaks the shortcut and you need the full calculation.

Two things stand out. Up to about ₹12 lakh CTC you keep a steady 85% of the package, because the only deductions are PF, gratuity and professional tax — no income tax at all. Above that the share falls steadily, reaching 66% at ₹50 lakh, as progressively more of each additional rupee goes to tax. The gap between CTC and take-home is not a fixed percentage; it widens as you earn more.

Why a higher basic pay lowers your monthly take-home

Basic pay is the base for PF, gratuity and HRA, so its share of your CTC changes your take-home even when the CTC does not move. On the same ₹12 lakh package:

A 60% basic pays ₹8,643 a month less than a 30% basic on an identical CTC — but it also puts ₹43,200 more a year into your provident fund. That money is not lost, only deferred into a tax-free, government-backed corpus you can project with the EPF calculator. A low basic maximises cash today; a high basic maximises forced long-term saving and a larger gratuity on exit. Neither is simply better, but it is worth knowing which one your offer letter has chosen for you.

How this calculator estimates take-home

Starting from your CTC and the share that is basic pay (usually 40–50%), it works through the standard structure:

• Employer PF — 12% of basic, part of CTC but paid into your PF, not your salary.
• Gratuity provision — about 4.81% of basic, set aside by the employer.
• Gross salary = CTC − employer PF − gratuity.
• Deductions — your own PF (12% of basic), professional tax (≈ ₹2,400/year), and income tax under the new regime after the ₹75,000 standard deduction.
• In-hand = gross − those deductions.

Why your actual figure may differ

Salary structures vary widely. Some employers cap PF at 12% of ₹15,000 (₹1,800/month) instead of on full basic, which raises take-home; others include variable pay, NPS or reimbursements in CTC. HRA and other exemptions only help under the old regime. To pick the cheaper regime for your salary, use the income tax calculator, and if you rent, check your HRA exemption.

What CTC does not show

Two big long-term benefits are hidden inside CTC: your EPF corpus, which compounds tax-free until retirement, and your gratuity, payable after five years of service. Both feel like "deductions" today but are real savings — don't mistake a higher take-home for a better overall package. For a full breakdown of where every rupee of your CTC goes, read our guide: CTC vs In-Hand Salary: where does your money go?