Salary slip format explained: every earning and deduction

A salary slip packs a lot into one page, and the numbers rarely match the figure in your offer letter. Here's what each part means, so you can check your pay and explain it to anyone who asks.

The parts of a salary slip

Most salary slips have four blocks:

1. Company and employee details: your name, employee ID, designation, PAN, UAN, bank account and the month.
2. Earnings: everything you're paid, before anything is taken off.
3. Deductions: everything taken off before the money reaches your account.
4. Net pay: what actually lands in your bank account, often written in words as well.

It also usually shows paid days and any loss-of-pay (LOP) days, for leave you took without pay.

Earnings

• Basic salary: the core of your pay and usually the biggest line. Many other amounts, like PF and HRA, are worked out from it.
• House rent allowance (HRA): paid to help with rent. If you pay rent and choose the old tax regime, part of it can be tax-free. Our guide on how to claim HRA with rent receipts explains how.
• Special allowance: a flexible part that makes up the rest of your salary. It's fully taxable.
• Other allowances: such as conveyance, medical or leave travel allowance, depending on your employer.
• Bonus or incentives: performance pay, shown in the month it's paid.

Add all the earnings together and you get your gross salary for the month.

Deductions

• Provident fund (PF): your retirement savings. The employee's share is usually 12% of basic salary, and your employer adds a contribution of its own. You can check your balance with your UAN.
• Professional tax: a small tax charged by some states, capped at ₹2,500 a year. You won't see it if your state doesn't charge it.
• Income tax (TDS): tax your employer deducts each month, based on your expected yearly income and the tax regime you chose. You can check the yearly figure with our income tax calculator.
• ESI: for employees earning up to ₹21,000 a month, 0.75% of wages goes to the Employees' State Insurance scheme, which covers medical care.
• Other deductions: such as loan repayments or meal cards, if your employer offers them.

CTC, gross and net pay

These three numbers confuse almost everyone:

• CTC (cost to company) is everything your employer spends on you in a year, including their PF contribution and sometimes gratuity and insurance. It's the number in your offer letter.
• Gross salary is the total of your earnings before deductions.
• Net pay, or take-home pay, is gross salary minus deductions.

For example, a payslip with ₹50,500 of earnings and ₹2,000 of deductions (₹1,800 PF and ₹200 professional tax) has a net pay of ₹48,500.

How to check your salary slip

• Compare paid days with your attendance. Unpaid leave should appear as LOP days.
• Check that the PF deduction matches what appears in your PF passbook.
• Make sure the TDS for the year adds up to what's shown in your Form 16, the TDS certificate your employer gives you each June. From tax year 2026-27 it's called Form 130.
• Tell your HR or payroll team straight away if anything looks wrong. Fixing it early is much easier.

Why you need salary slips

Banks ask for recent salary slips before approving loans and credit cards, landlords ask for them before renting, and embassies ask for them in visa applications. A new employer may also ask for them when you switch jobs, so keep the last few months saved.

For employers: make them in minutes

If you run a small business, our free salary slip generator makes a clean PDF payslip with your logo, earnings, deductions and net pay in words. You enter the amounts from your payroll, and it lays them out clearly.

This guide covers common Indian payslip items. Your employer's payroll team can explain anything specific to your salary.