What stayed the same
The new regime remains the default for FY 2026-27. Its slabs are unchanged: nil up to ₹4 lakh, then 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% in ₹4 lakh bands, and 30% above ₹24 lakh.
The standard deduction for salaried taxpayers and pensioners stays at ₹75,000. The section 87A rebate still takes tax to nil at ₹12 lakh of taxable income, with marginal relief just above it.
A salaried person earning ₹12.75 lakh therefore still pays nothing, because the standard deduction brings taxable income to exactly the rebate threshold.
Why an unremarkable Budget is worth reading anyway
Two consecutive years of stable slabs is unusual by Indian standards, and it changes what planning looks like. When rates move every year, the rational response is to defer decisions; when they hold, the old-versus-new regime comparison you did last year is probably still right.
It also means that if your tax outgo went up this year, the cause is your income, not the rules. Worth checking before assuming an error.
The change that is not in the Budget
The larger shift this year is structural rather than fiscal: the Income-tax Act 2025 took effect on 1 April 2026, replacing the 1961 Act. Substance largely carried over; almost every section number changed.
Section 80C is now section 123. Section 87A is now section 156. For the next few years you will need to recognise both numbers, because every document written before 2026 uses the old ones.