Income tax payable on same income has come down by over 50% since 2014: A comparison of the taxes across 11 years

The union budget for 2025-26 makes significant changes to the Income Tax regime, which is going to provide major relief to taxpayers. According to the new tax structure, there will be no income tax on income up to ₹12 lakh. Moreover, the slabs have been changed, ensuring that there will be lower tax outgo even for those who come under taxable bracket with income above ₹12 lakh.

This marks a significant increase in the minimum limit for taxable income from the current structure, and even more increase since 2014, when the Modi government assumed office. While now there is no tax on income up to ₹12 lakh, in 2014 it was in the highest tax bracket, which started at ₹10 lakh with a tax rate of 30%.

Here is a comparison of the three income tax structures for the years 2013-14, 2024-25 and 2025-26.

We have calculated income tax for income from 1 lakh to 30 lakh with a ₹1 lakh interval. The calculations do not include various surcharges imposed on income tax over the years.

First, let us have a look at the I-T slabs for these three years:

For 2013-14

For 2024-25

For 2025-26

Now, there is a comparison of income tax to be paid for various incomes in these three years.

This analysis shows that the tax to be paid on any income has come down by over 50% in the last 11 years. While an income of ₹10 lakh attracted tax of ₹1,30,000 in 2013-14, it came down to ₹50,000 last year and now this has become zero. For an income of ₹15 lakh, the tax has reduced to ₹1,05,000 from ₹2,80,000, and for ₹20 lakh it has come down from ₹4,30,000 to 2,00,000.

Please note that for 2024-25 and 2025-26, the new income tax regime has been considered.