Calculate House Rent Allowance tax exemption. The lowest of three rules wins under Section 10(13A) — we compute all three for you.
Tax-Free HRA Exemption
💰 Tax Savings Estimate (Old Regime, 30% bracket)
HRA exemption only available under old tax regime. Use Richify's Income Tax Calculator to compare regimes for your full salary.
Combine HRA, 80C (PPF/ELSS/EPF), 80D, and home loan benefits in one tax-planning view. Felix flags missed deductions before March 31.
Download Richify — It's FreeHRA exemption under Section 10(13A) is the MINIMUM of three amounts: (1) Actual HRA received from your employer, (2) 50% of (basic salary + DA) if you live in a metro (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai), or 40% for non-metro cities, (3) Annual rent paid minus 10% of (basic + DA). The lowest of these three is your tax-free HRA. The remainder of HRA received above this exemption is taxable as part of your salary income.
Only four cities are classified as 'metro' for HRA exemption under Income Tax rules: Delhi, Mumbai (Bombay), Kolkata (Calcutta), and Chennai (Madras). All other cities — including Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, Gurgaon, Noida, Pune — are considered non-metro and use the 40% threshold instead of 50%. This is a quirk of the original Income Tax rules and hasn't been updated despite Bangalore/Hyderabad's growth.
Yes — but you must actually pay rent to your parents. They must show this rent as 'income from house property' in their own ITR. The rent payment must be genuine: a written rent agreement, monthly bank transfer (not cash), and parents declaring this income. Be cautious — fake rent receipts to parents who don't declare the income is a common audit trigger and the deduction will be disallowed plus penalty applied.
No. HRA exemption is only available under the OLD tax regime. Under the new tax regime (default since FY 2023-24), HRA is fully taxable as part of your salary. If your HRA exemption is significant (>₹2 lakh per year), the old regime usually wins despite higher slab rates. Use Richify's Income Tax Calculator to compare both regimes side-by-side with your specific numbers.
If your annual rent is ≤ ₹1 lakh: rent receipts from your landlord (monthly or quarterly). Above ₹1 lakh per year: rent receipts PLUS your landlord's PAN number. If landlord refuses to give PAN, you can submit Form 60 declaration. Always pay rent via bank transfer, not cash — this creates an audit trail. Keep rent agreement and 12 months of receipts. Submit these to your employer's HR/payroll team in January-February for next year's TDS adjustment.
Yes — under specific conditions. You can claim HRA (rented house) AND Section 24(b) home loan interest (own house in another city, used for own family's stay or rented out) simultaneously. Common scenario: you own a house in your home city (Pune) but live in a rented house in your work city (Mumbai). Both deductions are valid. However, you can NOT claim HRA AND occupy your own home in the same city — you must actually be paying rent.