₹Paisa Stack
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For people who've never really learned this

Master your money with free calculators, guides, and real tax help.

Everything you need to handle tax, salary, loans, property, and investing — in one place, explained without the jargon.

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Built by CA Pankaj Chhabra & CA Tripti Saini
17+ years combined in finance & wealth management
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Start here — does this sound like you?

You're not bad with money. Nobody just explained it to you.

If two or more of these are true, you're exactly who this is built for.

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You got your first payslip and still don't fully know what every deduction line actually means.

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You've switched jobs a couple of times and now have provident fund sitting in accounts you've lost track of.

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You have stock options or RSUs vesting and genuinely don't know when or how they get taxed.

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You started a SIP because a friend said to, with no real number behind why or how much.

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You're buying a home soon and someone mentioned a tax deduction you need to handle at registration.

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Every year you scramble in the last week for tax-saving proofs you should've planned months earlier.

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15 calculators for the moments that actually confuse people

Tax, salary, property, loans, and savings schemes — type in your own numbers and get a straight answer. Everything runs right here in your browser — nothing is sent anywhere.

TDS when buying property (Section 194-IA)
Agreed sale price₹75,00,000
Stamp duty value₹75,00,000
TDS uses whichever of these two is higher. If unsure, keep them equal.
Seller has PAN on record?
TDS to deduct
₹75,000
Deduct this before paying the seller.
Value used₹75,00,000
Rate applied1%
TDS amount₹75,000
Net to seller₹74,25,000
File via Form 26QB within 30 days of month-end, then hand the seller Form 16B.
Income tax — FY 2026-27
Gross annual income₹12,00,000
I'm a salaried employee
Standard deduction: ₹75,000 (new regime) or ₹50,000 (old regime).
80C & other old-regime deductions₹1,50,000
PPF, ELSS, home loan interest, 80D — these only count under the old regime.
You save
₹0
by picking the cheaper regime.
New regime₹0
Old regime₹0
Taxable (new)₹0
Taxable (old)₹0
Tax payable₹0/yr
Income up to ₹12,00,000 is effectively tax-free under the new regime via the Section 87A rebate.
Loan EMI calculator
Loan amount₹40,00,000
Interest rate / year8.5%
Tenure20 yrs
Monthly EMI
₹34,714
Same amount every month, for the whole tenure.
Principal₹0
Interest₹0
Total interest₹0
Total payback₹0
A 1% higher rate or 5 extra years can swing total interest by lakhs — worth shopping around.
Investment return projector
Monthly investment₹10,000
Expected annual return12%
Time horizon15 yrs
Maturity value
₹0
projected value at the end of the term.
Invested₹0
Growth₹0
Total invested₹0
Estimated maturity₹0
Ignores tax on gains and assumes a flat annual return — real markets are bumpier than this.
HRA exemption calculator
Basic salary (monthly)₹40,000
HRA received (monthly)₹20,000
Rent paid (monthly)₹22,000
City type
Metro = Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai (50% of basic). Others = 40% of basic.
Exempt HRA
₹0
per month — the tax-free portion of your HRA.
Actual HRA received₹0
Rent − 10% of basic₹0
% of basic (city limit)₹0
Taxable HRA₹0
HRA exemption only applies under the old tax regime, and only if you're actually paying rent with proof (receipts, rent agreement).
Capital gains (LTCG / STCG) calculator
Asset type
Purchase price₹5,00,000
Sale price₹8,00,000
Holding period (months)18 mo
Tax on this gain
₹0
estimated capital gains tax.
Capital gain₹0
Classification—
Rate applied—
Tax payable₹0
Equity: 12-month LT threshold, 12.5% above ₹1.25L exemption/year. Below 12 months: 20% flat.
Rent vs buy calculator
Monthly rent (today)₹30,000
Property price₹75,00,000
Down payment20%
Home loan rate8.5%
Time horizon10 yrs
Expected property growth / yr5%
If renting, invest the difference at10%
Over this horizon
—
which option builds more wealth.
Net position if you buy₹0
Net position if you rent + invest₹0
Buying's net position = property value − remaining loan − total interest paid. Renting's = investment corpus from investing the monthly savings. Ignores maintenance, taxes, and transaction costs on both sides.
Salary / in-hand calculator
Annual CTC₹12,00,000
Basic salary (% of CTC)40%
Other annual deductions (80C etc.)₹0
Monthly in-hand
₹0
estimated take-home, after PF and TDS.
Monthly gross (approx.)₹0
Employee PF (12% of basic)₹0
Estimated monthly TDS₹0
Net monthly in-hand₹0
Assumes new tax regime, a flat ₹200/month professional tax, and employer PF/gratuity carved out of CTC — actual payslip structures vary by company.
Gratuity calculator
Last drawn Basic + DA (monthly)₹50,000
Years of service7 yrs
Gratuity payable
₹0
fully tax-exempt (under ₹20L ceiling).
Formula: (Basic+DA) × 15/26 × years₹0
Statutory exemption ceiling₹20,00,000
Taxable portion₹0
Eligible after 5+ years of continuous service (private sector). Not eligible below 5 years, except in case of death or disability.
Freelance tax — Section 44ADA
Annual gross receipts₹15,00,000
≥95% receipts via digital/banking?
Raises your 44ADA eligibility limit from ₹50L to ₹75L.
Your actual expenses (optional)₹0
Fill this in to compare against declaring actual profit instead of the 50% presumptive rate.
Presumptive taxable income
₹0
50% of gross receipts under Section 44ADA.
44ADA eligibility limit₹50,00,000
Eligible for 44ADA?Yes
Est. tax under 44ADA (new regime)₹0
Est. tax on actual profit instead₹0
If your real expenses are under 50% of receipts, 44ADA usually wins — you're taxed on less than you'd otherwise show as profit.
Loan prepayment calculator
Loan amount₹40,00,000
Interest rate / year8.5%
Original tenure20 yrs
Extra payment every month₹5,000
Interest saved
₹0
by paying extra every month.
Original EMI₹0
New tenure—
Time saved—
Total interest (original vs new)₹0
Extra payments go straight toward principal — even a modest amount saved consistently can cut years off a home loan.
Goal planner (reverse SIP)
Goal (in today's value)₹20,00,000
Years to goal5 yrs
Expected inflation / year6%
Expected annual return12%
Monthly SIP needed
₹0
to reach your goal, adjusted for inflation.
Goal in today's value₹0
Goal in future value₹0
Total you'll invest₹0
Inflation grows your target; expected return determines how hard your monthly SIP has to work to get there.
PPF calculator
Yearly investment₹1,50,000
₹1,50,000/year is the current maximum allowed in a PPF account.
Interest rate / year7.1%
PPF rate is set quarterly by the government — check the current rate before relying on this.
Tenure15 yrs
PPF has a 15-year lock-in, extendable in blocks of 5 years.
Maturity value
₹0
tax-free at maturity.
Total invested₹0
Total interest earned₹0
Assumes the full yearly amount is deposited at the start of each year, and interest compounds annually — the standard PPF calculation method.
EPF calculator
Current age28
Current monthly basic + DA₹40,000
Expected annual salary growth8%
EPF interest rate / year8.25%
Projected corpus at 58
₹0
combined employee + employer contributions, compounded.
Years to retirement0
Combined contribution rate24% of basic
Total contributed₹0
Simplified: assumes all 24% (12% employee + 12% employer) compounds at the EPF rate. In reality, part of the employer's share routes to the EPS pension scheme — actual EPF corpus may be somewhat lower.
NPS calculator
Current age28
Monthly contribution₹5,000
Expected annual return10%
Annuity purchase (min. 40%)40%
Expected annuity rate6%
Corpus at 60
₹0
projected total NPS corpus.
Lump sum withdrawal₹0
Annuity corpus₹0
Est. monthly pension₹0
Returns are market-linked, not guaranteed. Up to 60% of the corpus can usually be withdrawn tax-free; the rest must buy an annuity for a monthly pension.
Trackers — completely free, no WhatsApp needed

Five spreadsheets worth actually keeping

Real Excel files with working formulas — not templates you have to fix yourself. Download, make a copy, and start filling it in.

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Monthly Budget Tracker

Budgeted vs. actual by category, with your savings rate calculated automatically.

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FREE

Wedding Planner Tracker

Estimated vs. actual vs. paid-so-far, by vendor — keeps you inside one total budget.

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FREE

Travel & Vacation Tracker

Budget a trip, track spend by category, and split the actual cost per traveler.

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FREE

Debt & EMI Payoff Tracker

Every loan and card in one place, auto-ranked by interest rate so you know what to attack first.

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FREE

Festival & Gifting Tracker

Diwali, wedding season, birthdays — keep every gift and its cost inside one seasonal budget.

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These are yours to keep — no email required, no WhatsApp message needed. Just click and download.

Guides — two minutes each, no fluff

Short answers to the questions you've been meaning to google

Tap any card to expand it.

  • The new regime is the default since FY 2023-24 — you have to actively opt into the old one.
  • New regime: lower rates, almost no exemptions, but income up to ₹12L is effectively tax-free via the Section 87A rebate.
  • Old regime wins if your deductions are large: home loan interest, full 80C (₹1.5L), HRA, 80D health insurance.
  • Rough rule: if total deductions cross about ₹4–4.5L, check the old regime. Below that, the new regime usually wins.
  • Don't guess — run both through the calculator above with your real numbers.
  • Two separate taxable events: vesting (taxed as salary at fair value on the vest date) and sale (taxed as capital gains on the gain since vesting).
  • Foreign stock from an MNC parent usually means Schedule FA reporting in your tax return, even if you never sell.
  • Employer TDS on vesting is often under-withheld — check Form 26AS instead of assuming it's fully covered.
  • The holding period for long-term gains on foreign listed shares differs from Indian shares — check before assuming it's one year.
  • Buying out your notice period is an out-of-pocket cost, usually not tax-deductible, unless your new employer reimburses it.
  • In your final settlement: leave encashment is taxable for private-sector employees; gratuity has exemption limits and needs 5+ years of service.
  • Recoveries — unreturned assets, notice-pay shortfall — get deducted straight from your last payout. Read the settlement statement line by line.
  • One UAN follows you for life — transfer your PF on every job switch, don't withdraw it.
  • Withdrawing before 5 years of combined service can make it taxable.
  • Transfers don't always happen automatically — check your EPFO passbook after each move.
  • Old, stranded PF accounts from earlier employers are common — they can be merged through EPFO's account-merger request.
  • Layoff cycles in tech move faster than most other sectors — aim for 6–9 months of expenses, not the generic "3–6 months" advice.
  • Keep it boring and liquid: a sweep-in fixed deposit or a liquid mutual fund, never equity.
  • Keep it fully separate from your investment portfolio — its job is to be there instantly, not to earn the best return.
  • Covered in the calculator above — the part that trips people up is timing: if you're paying a builder in installments, TDS applies to each payment, not just once at registration.
  • You need the seller's PAN before you pay — no PAN pushes the rate from 1% to 20%.
  • Keep Form 16B safe. Buyers usually only remember it at resale, when it's needed to prove the seller got credit for the TDS.
  • Basic salary drives almost everything else — PF, gratuity, and HRA are all calculated as a percentage of it.
  • Gross salary is bigger than what actually lands in your account — PF, professional tax, and TDS all come out before that.
  • Take-home is typically 65–75% of (CTC ÷ 12) — use that as a sanity check before accepting an offer.
  • See the full guide in our Form 16 blog for how this ties into your annual tax certificate.
  • Rough rule: if your loan rate is above what you'd confidently earn investing instead, prepaying wins mathematically.
  • Prepaying early in the loan saves more interest than prepaying later — front-loaded interest means early extra payments do more work.
  • Don't drain your emergency fund to prepay — a paid-down loan doesn't help you if an emergency then forces you to borrow again at a worse rate.
  • Use the free Loan Prepayment calculator above to see the exact interest saved for your numbers.
  • Formula: (Basic + DA) × 15/26 × years of service — eligible after 5+ years of continuous service.
  • Exempt up to ₹20,00,000 — the lowest of actual gratuity, this ceiling, or the formula amount.
  • Under 5 years? Not eligible under standard rules, except in cases of death or disability.
  • Use the free Gratuity calculator above to check your exact number before resigning.
  • Under 1 year: savings account or liquid fund. 1–3 years: FD or short-term debt fund. 7+ years: equity.
  • Never put a short-term goal's money into equity — you may be forced to sell at a loss right when you need it.
  • Inflation grows your target over time — a ₹20L goal today needs more than ₹20L in 5 years.
  • Use the free Goal Planner calculator above to work out the monthly SIP a specific goal actually needs.
  • GST registration is generally required past ₹20L turnover for services (₹10L in some states) — optional below that.
  • Section 44ADA lets eligible professionals declare 50% of receipts as taxable income, without maintaining full books.
  • You cannot legally charge GST unless you're actually registered — check before adding it to an invoice.
  • Full detail in our Freelancing & GST blog.
  • Research market rate from 3+ sources before naming a number — anchoring too low costs you, anchoring with no basis costs you credibility.
  • Lead with value delivered, not personal need — "here's the impact I've had" lands better than "my expenses went up."
  • If base salary has no room, ask about joining bonus, an earlier review cycle, or additional equity instead.
  • Never accept on the spot — "let me review this and get back to you by [date]" is always reasonable.
  • Starting point: 10–15 times your annual income.
  • Add outstanding loans and future goals (education, dependent care) you're funding alone.
  • Subtract existing savings and investments that could already cover part of it.
  • Full breakdown in our Term vs Life Insurance blog.
  • Tier I is the primary retirement account — locked until 60, with the tax benefits under 80CCD(1B).
  • Tier II is a voluntary add-on — no lock-in, but also no tax deduction.
  • Most people only need Tier I; Tier II mainly suits those wanting flexible access within the same NPS ecosystem.
  • Full comparison in our NPS vs PPF vs EPF blog.
  • Mismatched TDS between what you declare and what Form 26AS/AIS shows — always reconcile before filing.
  • Choosing the wrong ITR form for your income type — salary plus freelance income needs a different form than salary alone.
  • Forgetting to report exempt income, foreign assets, or crypto gains — these still need disclosure even if the tax is zero.
  • Filing at the last minute with no time to fix an error before the deadline.
  • Read the notice section number first — it tells you exactly what's being asked, not just "the department wants money."
  • Many notices are routine mismatches (a TDS gap, an unreported small income) that need clarification, not a dispute.
  • Respond within the given window — most notices have a specific deadline, and silence is worse than a late-but-honest response.
  • For anything beyond a simple mismatch, get a professional to review it before you respond.
  • 24-month holding period splits short-term (taxed at slab rate) from long-term.
  • Property bought after 23 July 2024: 12.5% flat, no indexation. Bought before: choose 12.5% (no indexation) or 20% (with indexation), whichever is lower.
  • Sections 54 and 54F can defer this tax if you reinvest in another residential property — conditions apply.
  • Use the free Capital Gains calculator above for an estimate on your specific numbers.
  • 20s: let EPF run automatically, lean into NPS's equity allocation for the extra 80CCD(1B) deduction.
  • 30s–40s: balance PPF and NPS roughly evenly alongside EPF, building both guaranteed and growth exposure.
  • 50s: shift NPS allocation toward debt, lean more on PPF/EPF's guaranteed returns as the horizon shortens.
  • Full breakdown in our NPS vs PPF vs EPF blog.
  • Basic salary affects PF, gratuity, and HRA cap simultaneously — it's not just "a number," it's a lever.
  • Some components (meal cards, LTA, telephone reimbursement) can be more tax-efficient than an equivalent cash allowance.
  • This is worth discussing with HR at senior levels or smaller companies where CTC structure has more flexibility.
  • Always run both regimes with your actual structure using the free Income Tax calculator above.
Ebooks — ₹50 each

Skip the 300-page finance book. Get the 10-page version.

Ten short, practical playbooks — no theory, no "gyaan," just the steps. Each one is a quick read you can act on the same day.

Personal Finance01₹50

The First Payslip Playbook

What to actually do with your salary the day it lands — accounts, autopay, and a simple 3-bucket split.

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Taxation02₹50

Old vs New Regime, Decided

A 10-minute worksheet to pick your tax regime for this year — no CA required.

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Savings vs Investing03₹50

Where Every Rupee Should Go

A simple flowchart for save-vs-invest decisions — from emergency fund to your first equity SIP.

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Business Ideas04₹50

10 Businesses Under ₹50,000

Real ideas with real budgets you can start on weekends, without quitting your job.

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Communication05₹50

Emails That Get Replies

Copy-paste templates for asking, following up, negotiating, and saying no at work.

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Productivity06₹50

50 Excel Shortcuts Worth Learning

The shortcuts that actually save time — no macros, no VBA, just keys.

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Tax Saving07₹50

Legal Ways to Pay Less Tax

The deductions most salaried people forget to claim, and exactly how to claim them.

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Career Money08₹50

Your First Month at a New Job

A money checklist for job switches — PF transfer, insurance, full-and-final, all of it.

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Negotiation09₹50

Salary Negotiation, Script Included

Word-for-word scripts for negotiating CTC, raises, and counter-offers.

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Property10₹50

Buying Your First Property

The paperwork playbook — TDS, loan sanction, registration — all in the right order.

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Services — done for you, over WhatsApp

Paid help for the paperwork you'd rather hand off

These aren't DIY tools — they're filings we handle for you. Tap any card to start the conversation.

ITR Filing

Salaried, freelance, or both — we prepare and file your income tax return for you.

Pricing depends on your case — shared on WhatsApp.

Apply New PAN / Update PAN

New PAN application, or corrections to your existing one — name, address, date of birth, and more.

Pricing depends on your case — shared on WhatsApp.

TDS Return Filing

Quarterly TDS returns for individuals or small businesses, filed correctly and on time.

Pricing depends on your case — shared on WhatsApp.

Consultancy on TDS for Property Purchase

Buying property above ₹50 lakh? We'll walk you through the deduction, Form 26QB, and timelines.

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Manager, NatWest Bank
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Delhi State Level Cricketer
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"Working with Paisa Stack has been a seamless experience. Their team combines strong technical expertise with practical financial advice, making even complex tax and investment matters easy to understand. What impressed me the most is their responsiveness, attention to detail, and commitment to acting in the client's best interest. Whether it's tax planning, compliance, or wealth management, they deliver with professionalism and integrity. I would confidently recommend Paisa Stack to anyone looking for a reliable financial partner."

Muskan Saini
Director, Equibalance Advisors Pvt Ltd

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About

Why this exists

Most personal finance content assumes either total ignorance or a finance background — neither fits someone who's sharp and simply never had a reason to learn tax law or loan math. Paisa Stack is built for that gap: real calculators for the moments that actually confuse people — a property purchase, a tax regime choice, a loan, a SIP — and guides written the way a knowledgeable friend would explain it. Direct, specific, no filler.

A quick disclaimer: this site is a planning aid, not financial or tax advice. Figures reflect FY 2026-27 rules as commonly published and can change with future budgets. Confirm anything that affects a real filing or transaction with a chartered accountant or the Income Tax Department before acting on it.