Why is my take-home so much less than the CTC?

The employer's provident fund share and the gratuity provision are inside CTC but never reach your account, and then your own fund contribution, professional tax and income tax come out of what is left. Fifteen to thirty per cent of the headline figure typically never appears as salary.

Should I want a higher or lower basic pay?

A higher basic means more going into the provident fund and a larger gratuity entitlement, at the cost of less cash each month. Which you prefer depends on whether you need the money now or later.

Is the bonus included in the monthly figure?

No. It is computed and taxed as part of the year, but shown separately, because it arrives once rather than every month and budgeting against it monthly is how people get caught out.

Why does my own provident fund contribution reduce my tax?

It qualifies under 80C, but only in the old regime. The calculation applies it there and correctly ignores it under the new regime, where the deduction does not exist.

Salary Calculator

What lands in the bank each month, starting from the CTC on the offer.

Everything runs inside your browser. Your files never leave your device.

Result

The result appears here as you type.

Ask about Salary Calculator

Questions about what this tool does, which option to pick, or what it can and cannot handle.

The question you type here is sent to an AI provider to be answered — your files and whatever you put in the tool above are not, and the assistant cannot see them. Answers are generated and can be wrong. The tool itself is not guessing: it runs deterministic code on your device.

About the Salary Calculator

Cost to company and take-home pay are different numbers, and the distance between them is where most offer letters cause disappointment. This starts at the CTC and works down to what reaches the bank each month.

Three things come out before you ever see the salary. The employer's provident fund share is part of the package but goes into your fund, not your account. The gratuity provision is set aside against an entitlement you only receive after five years, and never if you leave sooner. Some companies also count insurance premiums and meal cards inside CTC. What is left after all of that is the gross salary, and it is often eighty-five per cent or less of the headline figure.

From gross, your own provident fund contribution, professional tax and income tax come off. The last of those depends on which regime you are on, so the regime selector matters — and your own fund contribution is deductible under the old regime only, which the calculation handles rather than making you adjust for it.

The basic pay percentage is the input people most often set wrongly, and it moves the answer in both directions. A higher basic raises the provident fund contributions, which reduces take-home now and increases retirement savings, and it raises the gratuity provision too. Companies typically set it somewhere around forty per cent of fixed pay, but it varies enough that the offer letter is the only reliable source.

Every company splits a package differently. Use this against your own letter rather than as a general rule.

How to use it

1Enter the CTC exactly as the offer letter states it.
2Set the basic pay percentage from the letter's own breakdown if it gives one.
3Put the variable or bonus portion in separately — it does not arrive monthly.
4Pick your regime and add old-regime deductions if you claim them.

Questions

Why is my take-home so much less than the CTC?: The employer's provident fund share and the gratuity provision are inside CTC but never reach your account, and then your own fund contribution, professional tax and income tax come out of what is left. Fifteen to thirty per cent of the headline figure typically never appears as salary.
Should I want a higher or lower basic pay?: A higher basic means more going into the provident fund and a larger gratuity entitlement, at the cost of less cash each month. Which you prefer depends on whether you need the money now or later.
Is the bonus included in the monthly figure?: No. It is computed and taxed as part of the year, but shown separately, because it arrives once rather than every month and budgeting against it monthly is how people get caught out.
Why does my own provident fund contribution reduce my tax?: It qualifies under 80C, but only in the old regime. The calculation applies it there and correctly ignores it under the new regime, where the deduction does not exist.