Should I compare CTC or take-home?

Take-home, always. CTC includes money that never reaches you and treats a guaranteed rupee the same as a hoped-for one. Two offers can match on CTC and be very far apart on what you bank.

How should I value a large variable component?

Ask what the actual payout percentage has been for the last three years, and get the answer from someone who worked there rather than from the recruiter. Then discount the variable by that figure before comparing.

Is a joining bonus real money?

It is, but only once, and usually with a lock-in of a year or two. Spread across three years it is much smaller than it looks in the offer letter.

Compare two job offers

Two offers with the same CTC can leave you thousands of rupees apart each month. Different basic shares, different variable components, a longer commute, a city that costs more to live in.

This puts both offers through the same arithmetic and compares what actually reaches you, over a full year.

Offer A pays more each month

₹7,392

₹48,890 apart over the first year, once the joining bonus is counted

Offer A: fixed pay: ₹16,20,000
Offer A: monthly in-hand: ₹1,10,965
Offer A: first-year cash: ₹13,31,584
Offer B: fixed pay: ₹15,00,000
Offer B: monthly in-hand: ₹1,03,573
Offer B: first-year cash: ₹13,80,474
Monthly difference: ₹7,392

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How this is worked out

Variable pay is stripped out first, so the comparison is on money you are contractually promised.
Both offers use a 40% basic share and the new tax regime, so the only thing changing is the offer itself.
A joining bonus is counted once, in year one, net of tax at a 30% marginal rate.

What this does not cover

Variable pay is not always paid in full. A 25% variable component at a 70% payout rate is a very different offer from one at 100%.
Nothing here prices the things that decide most job changes: the work, the manager, the commute, whether the company will exist in three years.
A joining bonus usually carries a lock-in. Leaving early means repaying it, often at gross.

Questions people ask

Should I compare CTC or take-home?: Take-home, always. CTC includes money that never reaches you and treats a guaranteed rupee the same as a hoped-for one. Two offers can match on CTC and be very far apart on what you bank.
How should I value a large variable component?: Ask what the actual payout percentage has been for the last three years, and get the answer from someone who worked there rather than from the recruiter. Then discount the variable by that figure before comparing.
Is a joining bonus real money?: It is, but only once, and usually with a lock-in of a year or two. Spread across three years it is much smaller than it looks in the offer letter.

Where these figures come from

Rates and rules on this page were last checked against the source on 31 August 2026. Tax law changes; check the source before you rely on a number for a decision.

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