All About House Rent Allowance (HRA)

House Rent Allowance (HRA) is the amount which your employer pays you towards the rent of your accommodation. Every salaried individual living in a rented flat is entitled to claim HRA to save on taxes. HRA is regulated by the provisions of Section 10(13A) of the Income Tax Act.

How Is HRA Decided?

It is decided based on the criteria like salary of the employee and the city of residence of the employee. If the employee resides in a metro city, then he/she is entitled to HRA almost equal to 50% of the salary. For others, HRA entitlement is 40% of the salary.

How To Use HRA To Save Income Tax?

A salaried individual can claim HRA exemptions only if these conditions are met: HRA is received as part of the salary package If an employee stays in a rented house rent paid is more than 10% of the salary.

How Much Of HRA Is Exempt From Income Tax?

The entitled HRA to an employee is not always fully exempt from tax. Employers take into consider the least of the below three heads to exempt tax - HRA received from the employer Actual rent paid less 10% of salary 50% of basic salary for those living in metro cities 40% of basic salary for those living in non-metro cities

Hence, Mr.X would get an HRA exemption of Rs 13,000 (the least among the three conditions). You can also save tax by paying rent to your parents, grandparents even if they do not have taxable income. In this case, they will act as your landlord, but the owner of the house should be the one whose name is furnished in the rent receipt.

Documents Required To Claim HRA Benefit -

If the HRA claim is just upto Rs 3,000/month, employees need not furnish any documents. But for amount exceeding this limit, the following documents need to be submitted to the employer -

Rent Receipts:

For HRA tax exemption, employees need to affix a one rupee revenue stamp on rent receipt with details of rented house and landlord like address of rented house, landlord name, amount of rent etc. The rent receipt has to have the signature of the landlord.

Rental Agreement In Some Cases:

If the rent exceeds Rs 15000/month, then PAN details of the landlord is mandatory for claiming HRA exemption.