CTC breakdown calculator: check an offer line by line

What it is for

An offer letter quotes CTC, cost to company. What reaches your bank is often 70% to 80% of it, and how much depends on the structure more than the headline. The CTC breakdown calculator lays out every component, annual and monthly, in the order an offer letter lists them, so you can hold it next to a real offer and check it line by line.

It is the detailed sibling of the salary calculator. The salary calculator answers "what lands each month?" in three lines and treats everything except employer PF as salary. The CTC breakdown also takes out the gratuity provision, any employer NPS and a health premium, and handles HRA under the old regime. Use the first for a quick figure and this one to compare offers.

The inputs

On the old regime, two more appear: Annual rent paid (₹) and a checkbox for a 50% HRA city (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune or Ahmedabad).

Behind the sliders: employee PF is 12% of basic, gratuity is provisioned at 4.81% of basic, and the special allowance is whatever is left. That last rule is why the table always adds back to the CTC.

The outputs

Three boxes: Monthly take-home (with take-home as a percentage of CTC), Annual take-home (with gross salary underneath) and Income tax a year. Then the component table, with earnings, the employer's retirals, and three "Less:" rows for employee PF, professional tax and income tax. A donut, "Where the CTC goes", splits the CTC into take-home, tax, employee PF, professional tax and employer retirals.

Worked example: two ₹18 lakh offers

Two offers at the same CTC, both run on the new regime with ₹2,400 of professional tax. Offer A has basic at 40% of CTC, 12% employer PF, no NPS and no health premium. Offer B has basic at 50%, 12% employer PF, 10% employer NPS and a ₹25,000 health premium.

Offer A puts about ₹12,000 a month more in hand, ₹1,43,991 a year. Offer B is not paying less, though. It sends ₹1,33,200 more a year into PF and NPS across both sides, provisions ₹8,658 more gratuity and buys a ₹25,000 health policy. Its tax is ₹22,867 lower, because the employer NPS contribution is deductible under the new regime up to 14% of basic. Which is better depends on whether you value cash now or retirement saving, and whether you expect to stay five years for the gratuity.

Checking the regime

Flip both offers to the old regime and enter ₹30,000 a month of rent in a metro. Offer A's take-home falls to ₹1,16,208 a month, with tax of ₹1,95,676; Offer B's to ₹1,06,173. On these structures the new regime is cheaper for both, even with the HRA exemption. Our HRA post shows the same result at ₹15 lakh, and the old vs new regime calculator finds your break-even.

Why it differs from the salary calculator

Run Offer A through the salary calculator (₹18 lakh, 40% basic, 12% PF on both sides) and it gives ₹1,24,331 a month, about ₹2,300 more than the breakdown. The gap is mostly the ₹34,632 gratuity provision, which the salary calculator counts as salary and this one does not, since it is paid only after five years of continuous service.

What it leaves out

• The PF wage ceiling. PF is taken on the whole basic. Many employers cap it at ₹1,800 a month on a ₹15,000 wage ceiling, which raises take-home. Our CTC to in-hand walkthrough shows the effect at ₹20 lakh.
• Old-regime deductions beyond PF. Under the old regime it counts employee PF within the ₹1.5 lakh section 80C limit, professional tax and HRA. Other 80C items, health premiums you pay yourself and home-loan interest are not entered here.
• Payslip quirks. Meal cards, reimbursements and flexi-benefit plans are not modelled. The note on the page calls the result a close estimate, not your payslip.

The guide Decoding your CTC explains each component, and the gratuity calculator shows what that provision pays if you stay. If you are weighing a raise rather than a new job, see what to do with a salary hike. Then enter your own offer in the CTC breakdown calculator. Figures are for FY 2026-27 and are not tax advice.