India, Feb. 5 -- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Budget 2025 announced that individuals earning up to Rs.12 lakh would be exempt from paying income tax.

However, this no-tax simit for salaried individuals can be extended when taking into account, standard deduction and National Pension System (NPS) investments.

The standard deduction goes up to Rs.75,000, and when this is combined with about Rs.96,000 through NPS contributions, up to to Rs.13.7 lakh per annum can be exempted from tax.

Section 80CCD(2) allows tax deduction of up to 10% of basic salary invested in NPS and up to 14% to central employees.

For an annual income of Rs.13.7 lakh with a base salary of 50% ( Rs.6.85 lakh), an NPS contribution at 14% would amount to R...