₹18 Lakh Salary in India — Monthly In-Hand Salary

₹18 LPA salary breakdown

How a ₹18,00,000 CTC splits into pay, employer contributions and deductions under the new regime for FY 2026-27 (AY 2027-28).

Income tax calculation on ₹18 lakh

Taxable income is ₹15,91,865 after the standard deduction of ₹75,000 and after removing employer PF and the gratuity provision from CTC. Slab tax works out to ₹1,18,780, plus ₹4,751 of health and education cess. Estimated total tax: ₹1,23,531 — an effective 7.4% of gross salary.

PF, gratuity and fixed versus variable pay

With basic pay at ₹7,92,000 (50% of fixed pay), employee PF is ₹95,040 a year and employer PF is the same. The gratuity provision of ₹38,095 sits inside CTC and becomes payable only after five years of service. Of the ₹18,00,000 CTC, ₹15,84,000 is fixed and ₹2,16,000 is variable pay that is paid on its own cycle rather than monthly.

₹18 LPA is typical for engineers with seven to ten years of experience, team leads, and mid-senior product or data roles at product companies. Variable targets of 10–15% are common and stock grants start appearing outside CTC.

Old versus new tax regime at ₹18 lakh

The new regime is generally ahead at this level. The old regime needs a large combination of HRA, home loan interest and chapter VI-A deductions to catch up, which most salaried professionals cannot reach.

The old-regime figures above assume only the standard deduction and employee PF. Adding HRA, home loan interest or 80C investments would reduce old-regime tax further, so use the calculator with your actual deductions before choosing a regime.

Factors that affect your in-hand salary at this level

• If your employer grants RSUs or ESOPs, ask whether they are quoted inside CTC — equity is not part of monthly in-hand pay.
• Consider employer NPS: contributions up to 14% of basic under 80CCD(2) stay deductible in the new regime and reduce taxable income at a 20% marginal rate.
• Check the PF basis: capping PF at the ₹15,000 statutory wage raises monthly cash but shrinks your retirement contribution.

How to calculate take-home salary yourself

1. Start with annual CTC and split it into fixed pay and variable pay.
2. Remove employer PF and the gratuity provision — both are inside CTC but not paid to you.
3. Apply the standard deduction to arrive at taxable income, then apply the slab rates, rebate, surcharge and cess for your regime.
4. Subtract employee PF, income tax, professional tax and any payroll recoveries from gross salary.
5. Divide by twelve for the monthly figure, remembering that variable pay arrives separately.

Use the full CTC to in-hand salary calculator or work backwards from a target monthly salary.