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Presumptive eligibility checker
Pick what you do. This tool tells you whether the law treats you as a specified profession (50% presumed income, ₹50 lakh limit) or a business (6%/8% presumed income, ₹2 crore limit) — or neither.
The rule, with its sections
Section 58 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (which merged the old 44AD, 44ADA and 44AE) gives two different presumptive tracks:
| Track | Who | Presumed income | Turnover limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Profession s.58(2) Sl.3 |
"Specified professions" under s.62(4): legal, medical, engineering, architecture, accountancy, technical consultancy, interior decoration, information technology, company secretary — plus CBDT-notified professions. | 50% | ₹50L (₹75L if cash ≤ 5%) |
| Business s.58(2) Sl.1 |
Any other eligible business — which is where most freelance work (writing, design, editing, marketing, translation…) actually falls. | 6% digital / 8% cash | ₹2cr (₹3cr if cash ≤ 5%) |
Two professions — film artist and authorised representative — are not printed in s.62(4) itself. They were notified under the old Act (CBDT Notification S.O. 17(E) of 12 January 1977), and that notification is treated as saved by s.536 of the new Act. We mark them "via CBDT notification" below.
Worked example
Riya is a freelance UI designer earning ₹28 lakh, all through bank transfers. Design is not in the s.62(4) list, so she is a business under s.58 — presumed income 6% of ₹28,00,000 = ₹1,68,000. Her friend Arjun, a freelance software developer on the same ₹28 lakh, is an IT profession — presumed income 50% = ₹14,00,000. Same income, very different tax base — and both are legal, because the law itself draws this line by type of work.
Edge cases to know
- Higher actual profit: presumed income is a floor, not a cap — if your actual profit is higher, s.58 requires declaring the higher figure.
- Commission and brokerage income is excluded from the business track — commission agents cannot use 6%/8% presumptive.
- The 5% cash test: the higher limits (₹75L / ₹3cr) apply only when cash receipts are at most 5% of total receipts.
- Mixed work: if you do both a specified profession and a separate business, each activity is tested on its own — talk to a CA before combining.
- Foreign accounts: a foreign bank/PayPal/Wise balance can push you from ITR-4 to ITR-3 even while staying presumptive — a filing-form issue, not an eligibility one.
Related tools
- All tools — presumptive calculator, advance tax and GST tools are next.
Last verified: 2 September 2026 — tax Act, 2025 — s.58, s.62(4), s.536; CBDT Notification S.O. 17(E) (12.01.1977) · Reviewed with a practising CA's responses (2 September 2026) — still not tax advice.