Income Tax : With the new tax regime (NTR) becoming the default regime, many taxpayers are worried that they will not be able to avail deductions. However, many people do not know that some deductions and exemptions are still available in the new tax regime. Although the deductions on investments in PPF, ELSS, KVP and NSC have been removed in the new regime, taxpayers can still claim the following deductions.

1. Standard Deduction: Under the new tax regime, the benefit of standard deduction is available. This amount is limited to Rs 75,000 or the amount of salary (whichever is less).

2. Deduction under 80CCD (2) : Section 80CCD (2) allows deduction on contribution made by the employer to the employee's pension account i.e. NPS. The maximum deduction under this is Rs 2 lakh.

CA Pratibha Goyal, partner at Delhi-based PD Gupta & Company, says, "The focus of the new tax regime is to promote consumption, so naturally there are not many deductions/exemptions available in the new tax regime. However, standard deduction and NPS deduction (section 80CCD(2)) have been provided for salaried taxpayers."

3. Deduction under 80CCH: Section 80CCH provides for tax deduction on contributions made to the Agniveer Corpus Fund.

4. Deduction under 80JJAA: Under Section 80JJAA of the Income Tax Act, eligible business entities can claim deduction on hiring new employees.

Up to 30% of the additional employee cost on recruitment of new employees can be claimed as deduction for up to three consecutive assessment years, starting from the year of recruitment.

5. Exemption for senior citizens: In the old tax regime, the basic exemption limit for senior citizens was Rs 3 lakh and for super senior citizens it was Rs 5 lakh. However, in the new tax regime, no tax is payable on total income up to Rs 7 lakh.

No deduction is applicable on HRA

However, note that House Rent Allowance (HRA), which was eligible for deduction under Section 10(13A) in the old tax regime, is not eligible in the new tax regime.