What CTC do I need for ₹1 lakh in hand per month?

Roughly ₹16 to ₹18 lakh depending on the structure, chiefly the basic percentage and whether PF is capped. Switch this calculator to reverse mode and set the structure to your offer to get the exact figure.

Why is my in-hand salary lower than the calculator says?

Most often because PF is being deducted on full basic rather than capped at the ₹15,000 wage ceiling, or because income tax is being deducted at source — this calculator shows take-home before TDS.

Is employer PF part of my CTC?

Almost always, yes. It is your money and it goes into your PF account, but it never appears in your bank balance, which is why CTC and take-home differ so widely.

What percentage of CTC is usually basic?

Between 35% and 50% in most Indian structures, with 40% common. A higher basic raises PF and gratuity and lowers immediate cash; a lower basic does the reverse but can cap your HRA exemption.

Do I get the gratuity in my CTC?

Only after five years of continuous service. It accrues at 4.81% of basic and is counted in CTC from day one, but leaving earlier means you never receive it.

What is professional tax?

A state-level tax on employment, typically ₹200 a month where it applies. A few states do not levy it at all, so set it to zero if yours does not.

Salary Calculator — CTC to In-Hand

CTC broken down to what reaches your bank, with the PF ceiling exposed — and runnable backwards, so you can find the CTC that pays the take-home you want.

Runs in your browser — nothing is uploaded

Salary structure

Annual CTC

₹

Basic as % of CTC%

Most Indian structures sit between 35% and 50%

HRA as % of basic%

Cap PF at the ₹15,000 wage ceilingThe statutory minimum, not 12% of full basic

Professional taxper month

₹

₹200 in most states, nil in a few

Other monthly deductions

₹

Insurance, canteen, loan recovery

Monthly take-home

₹1,43,314

₹17,19,768 a year, before income tax

The PF ceiling is worth ₹10,800 a month

Capping provident fund at the ₹15,000 statutory wage puts ₹1,43,314 in your account each month; contributing 12% of full basic puts ₹1,32,514. Same CTC, same job — the difference is one line in the offer letter, and it is the usual reason a calculator disagrees with your payslip.

Component	Annual	Monthly
Basic	₹7,20,000	₹60,000
HRA	₹3,60,000	₹30,000
Special allowance	₹6,63,768	₹55,314
Gross salary	₹17,43,768	₹1,45,314
− Employee PF	₹21,600	₹1,800
− Professional tax	₹2,400	₹200
− Other deductions	₹0	₹0
Take-home	₹17,19,768	₹1,43,314

Income tax is not deducted above

This is take-home before TDS. Run the figure through the income tax calculator to see what lands after tax.

Why use it

Built to be genuinely useful

Works backwards

Enter the monthly take-home you want and get the CTC to negotiate for. The number you need at offer time.

The PF ceiling switch

12% of full basic or 12% of ₹15,000 changes take-home by thousands a month. Most calculators never ask.

Full component breakdown

Basic, HRA, special allowance, both PF contributions and gratuity — annual and monthly.

Free, no sign-up

No account, no usage cap, and no feature held back behind a paywall.

How it works

Three steps

1
Choose whether you are going from CTC to in-hand or the other way round.
2
Set the basic percentage and HRA to match your offer letter.
3
Switch the PF ceiling on or off depending on what your employer does.

Why your payslip disagrees with every salary calculator

The usual culprit is provident fund. Statutorily, PF is 12% of basic wages, but employers may cap the contribution at the ₹15,000 monthly wage ceiling. Many do; many do not; a few let you choose. Nobody mentions it in the offer letter in plain terms.

On a ₹18 lakh CTC with basic at 40%, the difference is ₹57,600 a year against ₹21,600 — a swing of ₹3,000 a month in what reaches your account, on identical CTC. That is a larger gap than most people's expectations of what the calculator should be accurate to, and it is a single switch.

Capping puts more in your bank now; not capping puts more into a tax-advantaged retirement account earning a rate most debt instruments cannot match. Which is better is a genuine question. Not knowing which one applies to you is not.

What CTC includes that you never see

Cost to company is exactly that: what you cost. It includes the employer's PF contribution, gratuity accrual, and often insurance premiums and notional benefits. None of that reaches your bank account this month, and gratuity is only payable after five years of continuous service — leave in year four and it never arrives at all.

Then your own PF comes out, and professional tax, and whatever else your employer deducts. The proportion of CTC that lands as cash is typically somewhere between 70% and 85%, depending entirely on how the structure is built.

The 'where the CTC goes' view shows that split, because the gap between the number in the offer and the number in the account is where most salary disappointment comes from.

Negotiating from take-home rather than CTC

When you are weighing an offer, the figure that matters is what arrives each month. CTC is the number recruiters quote precisely because it is the largest one available and because its composition is not standardised — two ₹20 lakh offers can differ by ₹4,000 a month in hand.

The reverse mode takes the take-home you need and returns the CTC that produces it on the structure you have set. Going into a conversation with 'I need ₹X in hand, which on your structure is ₹Y CTC' is a more precise ask than a round CTC number, and harder to meet with a restructured offer that looks bigger and pays less.

This is before income tax

The take-home figure here is gross of TDS. Income tax depends on your regime choice, your deductions and your other income, none of which belong in a salary structure calculator.

Take the annual take-home from here into the income tax calculator to see what actually lands after tax.

FAQ

Questions people ask

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