How the calculation works on Rs 75,000 / month
On Rs 75,000 a month you've just stepped into the taxed zone, but barely. That's Rs 9,00,000 a year, and only the Rs 3,00,000 sitting above the Rs 6,00,000 exemption gets taxed, at 1%. I worked it out for this page: that comes to Rs 3,000 for the whole year, or Rs 250 a month. Your marginal rate (what your next raise gets taxed at) is 1%, and your effective rate is a tiny 0.33%. In FY 2025-26 the same salary paid exactly the same tax. If your payslip is showing a bigger cut than that, something else is going on, and I get into that below.
That works out to roughly Rs 250 a month deducted from your gross, leaving you with Rs 74,750 take-home.
What changes if you're not salaried?
People often assume business income is taxed like salary. At this level it isn't close. On Rs 9,00,000 a year of business or freelance income you'd owe Rs 45,000, against Rs 3,000 as a salaried employee, because the business table charges 15% on this slice instead of 1%. That's Rs 42,000 more a year for the same money.