What is gross vs net salary?
Gross salary is everything you earn in a month before deductions — basic, HRA, allowances, overtime and incentives added together; it is the top line of your payslip. Net salary, also called in-hand or take-home pay, is what actually reaches your bank account after deductions. Between the two sit four standard deductions: your PF contribution (12% of basic plus DA, commonly ₹1,800), ESI at 0.75% of gross if you earn within ₹21,000, professional tax where your state levies it (never more than ₹2,500 a year), and income-tax TDS per your regime and declarations. Gross is what the employer promises monthly; net is what you can actually spend.
The deductions, one by one
PF is savings, not loss; your 12% plus most of the employer's share accumulates in your EPF account. ESI buys medical and cash benefits for covered employees. Professional tax is a small state levy. TDS is income tax collected in advance against your annual liability: the one deduction that varies month to month, because it follows a projection of your full year rather than a flat rate.
Why two colleagues with equal gross take home different amounts
Different tax regimes, different declarations (rent, investments), different states (PT or none), and different ESI status all move the net. The payslip's deduction column is personal arithmetic, which is why comparing take-homes across colleagues mostly measures their paperwork, not their pay.
Quick example: Gross ₹50,000 with ₹20,000 basic: PF deducts ₹1,800, professional tax ₹200, TDS say ₹2,100 on a typical projection — net ₹45,900. ESI doesn't apply above ₹21,000 gross, so its line is absent.
Why did my net salary change this month when my gross didn't?
Almost always TDS: the annual projection recomputed, a declaration changed, proofs were verified, or a bonus elsewhere in the year shifted the spread. Check the payslip's TDS line against last month; a payroll system that shows its projection makes the answer readable.
Go deeper: Take-home calculator · Payslip format guide · TDS guide
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