For the purpose of above calculations, salary would be taken as Basic Pay + D.A. (if considered for retirement benefits)
HRA, or House Rent Allowance, is an allowance that salaried individuals receive from their employer for meeting the rental expenses of their house. The amount received is partly exempted from tax for the employee who is residing in a rented house. If the employee lives in his/her own house and does not pay any rent, the entire amount would be taxable
| HRA received | xxx |
|---|---|
Less: Exempted HRA (minimum of following three amounts)
|
(xxx) |
| Taxable HRA (to form part of salary for tax purpose) | xxx |
*For above calculations, the salary would be taken as Basic Pay + D.A. (if considered for retirement benefits) + Commission. You can use our free HRA Calculator to calculate your exemption amount.
It depends on the amount of rent paid:
Yes, you can claim HRA tax exemption by paying rent to your parents. It is advisable to have a rent agreement. You would need rent receipts to claim HRA exemption. Also, your parents need to show rental income from you in their income tax return.
Tax benefits of HRA cannot be claimed by paying rent to your spouse. So, if you are staying in a house owned by your spouse, then HRA exemptions are not available to you. However, if you still wish to claim exemption, you should be ready for litigation as the Income Tax Officer might allow it as per the decision in one of the cases in the Ahmedabad Tribunal.
No, you cannot enjoy the tax benefits of HRA if you live in your own house. One cannot pay rent to oneself. Hence, no exemption is available for HRA, and the entire HRA received becomes taxable under Income from Salary.
If the annual rent paid exceeds Rs.1,00,000/- it is mandatory to report PAN of the landlord to claim HRA exemption. In case landlord does not have PAN, a declaration of landlord is required.
If the annual rent exceeds Rs. 1,00,000 and the landlord refuses to give his PAN, then you cannot claim HRA for the rent paid in excess of Rs. 1,00,000/- and your employer will deduct the TDS accordingly. Therefore, discussing this with your landlord before taking the house on rent is advisable. However, you can claim the benefit of rent paid at the time of filing your return if the payment of rent can be substantiated to the income tax officers if required. Need a CA opinion? Contact Now!
For claiming HRA, there is no requirement that you should not own a house. If you reside in a rented property, then you can claim an exemption even if you own a house (in the same city or a different city).
Yes, certainly. You can claim both. If you are staying in a rented house, then you are eligible to claim an HRA tax exemption. Simultaneously, if you have taken a house loan, you can claim the house loan benefits too. If you have bought a house with the help of a home loan and live in another house on rent, you can claim tax benefits for both. But if the house you bought and the house you live in are in the same city, you should have a genuine reason for not living in the house you own to prove to Income Tax Officer. The reasons could be that the house you own is too far from your workplace, or the commute is very difficult. Still, Confused? Need CA opinion. Connect now!
Yes, why not, provided both are paying rent? Also, it will be better if the landlord issues two separate rent receipts or specifies the proportion of rent each person bears on the rent receipt.
Many times, it’s observed that companies do not give HRA exemption in Form 16 due to the unavailability of complete details. If your HRA claim has not been considered in form 16, you can directly claim the exemption in your IT return. Our experts are here to help you claim all the available tax exemptions and deductions & file your IT return hassle-free manner. Connect Now to know how!
A self-employed person doesn't receive any salary so there is no HRA and consequently the question of HRA exemption doesn't arise.
However, to take care of such a situation, there is a separate provision in the Income Tax Act, whereby a person not in receipt of HRA but incurring rent expenses for his residence can claim a deduction under section 80GG.
If you are paying rent but are not in receipt of HRA, you can claim a deduction under section 80GG. The least of the following amounts is available as a deduction:
However, following points must be kept in mind:
In a nutshell, this benefit is available only to those people, who do not have their own house and live in a rented house.
