# Financial Planning for Doctors in India > Financial planning for doctors in India: salary plus consulting fees, 194J TDS, 44ADA, advance tax and a late start on savings, all from your statements. Source: https://trykosh.com/for/doctors Kosh for doctors # Financial planning for doctors, from your own statements Most doctors start earning properly in their thirties, then juggle a hospital salary, consulting fees from two or three places and a loan. Kosh puts all of it in one picture and keeps track of what's due. ## What gets in the way ### A ten-year late start MBBS, internship, residency on a stipend, then perhaps a super-speciality. By the time the income arrives, friends in other careers have a decade of SIPs behind them. ### Salary from one place, fees from three A hospital salary with TDS, visiting fees from two clinics with 10% TDS under 194J, and some patients paying directly. No one adds it up, so advance tax is usually short. ### Form 26AS full of small entries Each hospital and clinic files its own TDS. One missing or wrong entry means a credit you won't get unless you spot it before filing. ### Loans stacked early An education loan from PG, a car for a long commute, maybe equipment or a clinic fit-out. EMIs start before savings do. ### No time to look Twelve-hour shifts leave no evening for statements and spreadsheets. Renewals, card bills and premiums slip through. ## What Kosh does about it ### Puts every income stream in one view Upload statements from each bank account. Kosh sorts salary, consulting receipts, transfers and spending, and merges overlapping statements. ### Works out your tax both ways Kosh calculates income tax under the old and new regimes from your real salary, rent and investments, so you know which leaves you more. ### Reminds you so you don't have to remember Email reminders before card due dates, SIPs, insurance renewals and advance-tax dates, plus a short Sunday digest. ### Plans the catch-up Retirement, children's education or a clinic, each turned into a monthly SIP amount based on what you actually have left each month. ### Finds the leaks Card interest, unused subscriptions and idle cash in a savings account, with the rupee amount on each. ## Free tools for doctors [Free tool**Freelancer tax calculator (44ADA)**Freelancers and consultants can pay tax on half their gross receipts without keeping detailed books. See what that means for you in FY 2026-27, how it compares with your real profit, and what's left after TDS.](/tools/freelancer-tax-calculator)[Free tool**Advance tax calculator**Split this year's tax into the four advance-tax instalments, net of TDS, so you pay on time and avoid interest.](/tools/advance-tax-calculator)[Free tool**Old vs new regime calculator**Find out which regime leaves you more money this year, and exactly how many more rupees of deductions the old regime would need to catch up.](/tools/old-vs-new-tax-regime-calculator)[Free tool**Term insurance calculator**A term policy should leave your family able to live as they do now, clear the loans and still fund the big goals. This calculator works out that amount from your own numbers instead of a rough multiple of salary.](/tools/term-insurance-calculator)[Free tool**Health insurance cover calculator**Hospital bills depend on where you get treated, how old you are and how many people share the policy. This guide turns those into a suggested sum insured and shows how far your current cover falls short.](/tools/health-insurance-cover-calculator)[Free tool**Cost of delay calculator**Find out what waiting to start a SIP really costs. Enter the SIP, the date you need the money and how long you plan to wait.](/tools/sip-delay-cost-calculator)[Free tool**Step-up SIP calculator**Raise your SIP a little every year and watch the gap with a flat SIP grow. Enter a starting amount, the yearly increase, an assumed return and the period.](/tools/step-up-sip-calculator)[Free tool**Education loan EMI calculator**An education loan doesn't start with EMIs. Interest builds up while you study and for a few months after, then gets added to the loan. See what that does to your EMI and how much 80E gives back.](/tools/education-loan-emi-calculator) ## A CFO for doctors. Upload a statement and Kosh maps your money, works out your tax and tells you the one thing to fix first. Free to start. [Start free](/signup?via=for-doctors) ## Salary plus consulting: how the tax adds up Hospital salary is taxed as salary, with the **INR 75,000 standard deduction** in the new regime. Consulting fees are professional income. Medicine is one of the professions that can use the presumptive scheme known as **44ADA** (now within section 58 of the Income-tax Act, 2025), which treats **50% of receipts** as profit, up to INR 75 lakh of receipts when almost all come by bank. Take an INR 18 lakh salary and INR 12 lakh of visiting fees. Salary alone means INR 1,50,800 of tax in the new regime, which the hospital deducts. The fees add INR 6 lakh of taxable income and lift the total to INR 2,92,500. The clinics deducted 10% TDS, INR 1,20,000, so INR 21,700 is still due as advance tax by 15 March. Check yours with the [freelancer tax calculator](/tools/freelancer-tax-calculator), which handles 44ADA, and the [advance tax calculator](/tools/advance-tax-calculator). **Which return form, and when** With salary and 44ADA income together, you'll usually file ITR-4 if total income is up to INR 50 lakh and there are no complications such as capital gains beyond the small exemption; otherwise ITR-3. Either way, without an audit the return is due by 31 August, not the 31 July date for salary-only filers; audit cases have until 31 October. A CA is worth it for the first year of private practice. ## Catching up after a late start Starting at 32 instead of 25 doesn't mean saving the same amount for longer; it means saving more per month for the same goal. The [cost of delay calculator](/tools/sip-delay-cost-calculator) shows the gap in rupees. A [step-up SIP](/tools/step-up-sip-calculator) that rises with each pay revision closes it faster than a flat amount. Loans need an order too. An education loan from PG, a car loan and perhaps a loan for equipment or a clinic fit-out often run together in the first years. Pay the highest-rate loan down first and keep the rest on schedule; the [debt payoff calculator](/tools/debt-payoff-calculator) shows the order and the interest saved. Before taking on a clinic loan, check what share of your take-home the EMIs would eat with the [debt-to-income calculator](/tools/debt-to-income-ratio-calculator). Lenders commonly allow 40 to 60%; a household with a late start on savings is usually better off keeping it well below that. ## Protect the income first - **Term insurance** sized to your loans and your family's years of expenses. The [term insurance calculator](/tools/term-insurance-calculator) gives a starting figure, and [this guide](/learn/how-much-term-insurance-do-i-need) explains it. - **Health insurance** of your own, beyond the hospital's group cover, which ends when you change jobs. - **An emergency fund** of six months, especially in the first years of private practice. - **Education loan interest** is deductible under 80E for up to eight years in the old regime only, so include it when you compare regimes. ## Frequently asked questions How are doctors taxed in India? A hospital salary is taxed as salary, with the standard deduction. Consulting or private-practice fees are professional income, which can use the 44ADA presumptive scheme where half of receipts is treated as profit. Both are added together and taxed at slab rates. Do doctors have to pay advance tax? Yes, if tax for the year after TDS is more than INR 10,000. Doctors with consulting fees often fall short because clinics deduct only 10% TDS, and under 44ADA the full advance tax is due by 15 March. Can a salaried doctor also use 44ADA for consulting fees? Yes. Salary is taxed under its own head and consulting fees can be declared under 44ADA, at 50% of receipts, if receipts are within the limit. You declare both in the same return. Does Kosh recommend specific funds or insurance policies for doctors? No. Kosh is not a SEBI-registered investment adviser and does not earn commissions. It explains categories such as index funds, PPF or term insurance and calculates how much you need, but never names a specific product. Can Kosh handle statements from several hospitals and banks? Kosh reads statements from any Indian bank as PDF, CSV or photo and merges overlapping ones. Consulting receipts from different clinics show up as separate income in one view. General information for planning, not tax, legal or investment advice. Kosh is an educational financial planning tool by Primedepth Labs. It is not a SEBI-registered investment adviser and does not offer personalised investment advice, hold your money or execute trades. Markets carry risk; read scheme documents carefully and consult a registered adviser before acting.