Your in-hand salary is what reaches your bank account each month. To get it from CTC, first take out the parts of CTC that aren't paid monthly: employer PF, the gratuity provision and variable pay. That leaves your gross salary. Then subtract your own PF, professional tax and income tax (TDS).
On a typical ₹12 lakh CTC, that works out to about ₹88,000 a month, not the ₹1,00,000 that CTC ÷ 12 suggests. Our salary in-hand calculator does this split for any CTC, and the sections below show what it does step by step.
Tools used in this guide
All free, with no sign-up. They run in your browser.
What goes into a CTC
CTC means cost to company: everything your employer spends on you in a year. Some of it is paid monthly, some later, and some never reaches your bank account at all.
| Component | Paid monthly? | Typical size |
|---|---|---|
| Basic salary | Yes | 40–50% of CTC |
| House rent allowance (HRA) | Yes | 50% of basic in metros, 40% elsewhere |
| Special / other allowances | Yes | Whatever is left of the fixed pay |
| Employer PF | No, goes to your PF account | 12% of basic (or of ₹15,000 if capped) |
| Gratuity provision | No, paid when you leave after 5+ years | About 4.81% of basic |
| Variable pay / bonus | No, usually once or twice a year | 0–30% of CTC |
| Group insurance, meal cards, other perks | Not as cash | Varies |
Basic, HRA and special allowance
Basic drives almost everything else: PF, gratuity and the HRA exemption are all calculated from it. HRA is usually a fixed share of basic. The special allowance is the balancing figure, so basic + HRA + special allowance adds up to your fixed monthly gross.
Employer PF and gratuity
Your employer adds 12% of your basic to your EPF each month, matching your own 12%. If PF is restricted to the statutory wage ceiling, it's 12% of ₹15,000, which caps it at ₹1,800 a month from each side. Our PF calculator shows how these contributions grow over the years.
Gratuity is provisioned at 15/26 of a month's basic for each year, which is 4.81% of basic. You receive it only when you leave after at least five years. The gratuity calculator shows what you'd actually get.
Variable pay and insurance
Variable pay depends on your performance and the company's results. It's normally paid once or twice a year, and it might not be paid in full. Group health or life insurance premiums are sometimes counted inside CTC as well.
Tip: If your offer counts insurance or meal cards inside CTC, subtract them before you enter the CTC in our calculator. It models fixed pay, PF, gratuity and variable pay only.
What gets deducted from your gross salary
Three things come out of your gross salary before it reaches you:
- Employee PF: 12% of basic (or of ₹15,000 if your employer caps it).
- Professional tax: set by each state. ₹200 a month is common, some states charge less, and some, such as Delhi, charge none. It's capped at ₹2,500 a year.
- Income tax (TDS): your yearly tax spread over the months. It depends on your regime and deductions.
Note: Our salary in-hand calculator doesn't estimate income tax. You enter the monthly TDS from your payslip. Or work out your yearly tax first with the old vs new regime tax calculator, and divide it by 12.
How our calculator works it out
These are the assumptions in the salary in-hand calculator, so you can match its numbers by hand:
- Basic = CTC × basic % (default 40%), divided by 12 for the monthly figure.
- Employer PF = employee PF = 12% of monthly basic. Alternatively, 12% of basic up to ₹15,000, or nothing, depending on the PF option you pick.
- Gratuity = yearly basic × 15/26 ÷ 12 (4.81% of basic), if gratuity is part of the CTC.
- Variable pay = CTC × variable % (default 0%).
- Gross salary = CTC − variable pay − employer PF − gratuity.
- HRA = basic × HRA % (default 50%). Special allowance = gross − basic − HRA.
- In-hand = monthly gross − employee PF − professional tax (default ₹200) − TDS (default ₹0).
Example 1: ₹12 lakh CTC
Settings: basic 40% of CTC, HRA 50% of basic, PF on full basic, gratuity included, no variable pay, professional tax ₹200.
| Item | Monthly | Yearly |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | ₹40,000 | ₹4,80,000 |
| HRA | ₹20,000 | ₹2,40,000 |
| Special allowance | ₹33,277 | ₹3,99,323 |
| Gross salary | ₹93,277 | ₹11,19,323 |
| Employee PF | −₹4,800 | −₹57,600 |
| Professional tax | −₹200 | −₹2,400 |
| Income tax (TDS) | ₹0 | ₹0 |
| In-hand salary | ₹88,277 | ₹10,59,323 |
| Employer PF (not paid monthly) | ₹4,800 | ₹57,600 |
| Gratuity provision (not paid monthly) | — | ₹23,077 |
Check: ₹11,19,323 + ₹57,600 + ₹23,077 = ₹12,00,000.
Why is TDS zero? In the new regime, ₹11,19,323 − ₹75,000 standard deduction = ₹10,44,323 of taxable income. That's under ₹12 lakh, so the rebate wipes out the tax. About 88% of this CTC reaches your bank account.
If your employer caps PF at the ₹15,000 wage ceiling, both PF contributions fall to ₹1,800. Gross rises to ₹96,277 and in-hand to ₹94,277 a month. You take home ₹6,000 more each month, but put ₹72,000 a year less into PF (₹36,000 from each side).
Example 2: ₹18 lakh CTC with 10% variable pay
Settings: basic 50% of CTC, HRA 50% of basic, 10% variable, PF on full basic, gratuity included, professional tax ₹200.
| Item | Monthly | Yearly |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | ₹75,000 | ₹9,00,000 |
| HRA | ₹37,500 | ₹4,50,000 |
| Special allowance | ₹9,894 | ₹1,18,731 |
| Gross salary | ₹1,22,394 | ₹14,68,731 |
| Employer PF | ₹9,000 | ₹1,08,000 |
| Gratuity provision | — | ₹43,269 |
| Variable pay (paid as a bonus) | — | ₹1,80,000 |
Check: ₹14,68,731 + ₹1,08,000 + ₹43,269 + ₹1,80,000 = ₹18,00,000.
Estimating TDS. Take taxable salary as the gross plus the full bonus: ₹16,48,731. In the new regime, minus the ₹75,000 standard deduction, that leaves ₹15,73,731. Tax comes to ₹1,20,700 for the year including cess, or about ₹10,058 a month.
| Deduction | Monthly |
|---|---|
| Employee PF | ₹9,000 |
| Professional tax | ₹200 |
| TDS (estimate) | ₹10,058 |
| In-hand salary | ₹1,03,136 |
So the monthly take-home is about ₹1.03 lakh, which is 69% of CTC. The ₹1,80,000 bonus arrives separately, if it's paid in full. In practice, employers often deduct extra TDS in the month the bonus is paid instead of spreading it evenly.
Warning: Notice the high basic here. At 50% of CTC, the special allowance has shrunk to under ₹10,000. PF (yours plus your employer's) and gratuity together take ₹2.59 lakh a year. That's good for long-term savings but lowers monthly pay.
Quick reference: in-hand pay at common CTCs
This table uses the calculator's default settings: basic 40% of CTC, PF on full basic, gratuity included, no variable pay and ₹200 professional tax. The tax column is a new-regime estimate on the gross salary, with nothing else claimed.
| CTC | Gross / month | In-hand before tax | Est. tax / month | In-hand after tax |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ₹5,00,000 | ₹38,865 | ₹36,665 | ₹0 | ₹36,665 |
| ₹8,00,000 | ₹62,185 | ₹58,785 | ₹0 | ₹58,785 |
| ₹12,00,000 | ₹93,277 | ₹88,277 | ₹0 | ₹88,277 |
| ₹18,00,000 | ₹1,39,915 | ₹1,32,515 | ₹10,469 | ₹1,22,046 |
| ₹25,00,000 | ₹1,94,327 | ₹1,84,127 | ₹22,900 | ₹1,61,227 |
With these settings, about 88% of CTC is paid out before tax at every level. Tax is what makes the share fall as CTC rises: to about 81% at ₹18 lakh and 77% at ₹25 lakh.
Tips for comparing and negotiating offers
- Compare fixed pay, not CTC. Two ₹18 lakh offers can differ by thousands a month in take-home pay. Ask for the full salary breakup before you accept.
- Ask how variable pay is actually paid. What percentage did people get last year? Is it paid yearly or quarterly? Is any of it deferred?
- Check what's inside the CTC. Insurance premiums, gratuity, meal cards and one-time joining bonuses inflate the headline number. A joining bonus doesn't repeat in year two.
- Ask whether PF is on full basic or capped at ₹15,000. Capped PF means more cash now. Full PF means more saved and earning interest.
- Think about your tax regime. In the old regime, a bigger HRA helps if you pay rent. In the new regime, HRA is fully taxable, but an employer NPS contribution (up to 14% of basic + DA) is still deductible. Ask whether the company offers it.
- Run each offer through the same tool. Put both offers into the salary in-hand calculator with the same settings. Then compare the monthly in-hand and the yearly PF.
Note: PF rules, professional tax and tax slabs can change, and company policies differ. Treat these figures as estimates, and confirm with your offer letter, your employer or a CA.