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HRA deduction – Tax Planning Tips and Clarifications December 31, 2007

Filed under: Income Tax — sanjaykadel @ 2:52 pm
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WISH YOU A HAPPY AND A PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR.

Q.1. What is HRA? 

HRA i.e. House Rent allowance is a common form of allowance employees receive. Taxation of HRA requires certain clarifications which generally people are looking for but do not get correct answers.

Q.2. What is the exemption available under Income tax act in relation to HRA? 

A part of HRA is exempted u/s 10(13A) of Income Tax Act, 1961.

The amount of exemption is taken to be the least of following three amounts:

  1. Amount of HRA received.
  2. Excess of Rent paid over 10% of Salary
  3. 50% of Salary, in case the employee resides in metro cities. otherwise 40% of salary

Q.3.  What is meant by Salary for the purpose of HRA?

Salary means Basic Salary + Dearness Allowance + Commission which is based on turnover acheived.

Q.4. If i stay in my own house and pay rent for some other house, is the rent paid considered for exemption?

The one and only important condition is that you should pay rent for the house in which you live. Such rent is only considered for exemption purpose. If you are staying in a house for which no rent is paid or payable, then HRA exemption is not available for you.

 Q.5. I worked for 8 months, but I paid rent for 12 months. what is your view about HRA exemption?

If you worked for 8 months, the next question is for how many months, did you receive HRA? If you received HRA for 8 months, then those 8 months’ rent expenditure is only taken for calculation of exemption purpose. Other months – No.

Q.6. My employer is asking proof for Rent payment. What should i do as per law?

As per Rule 2A, an employee who is getting House Rent Allowance of Rs.3000/- p.m. or lesser need not submit any sort of rent receipt to their employer. However, IT department can ask for such proof, in case they want. Otherwise, employer cannot ask for the proof upto Rs.3000/-

Those having house rent allowance of more than Rs.3000/- p.m. should definitely submit rent receipts to their employer for the employer to estimate your tax liability correctly.

Q.7. I want to do HRA planning in my Salary Structure. i.e. I want to know, How much HRA should i receive from the company to best utilize the exemption? Please advice.

First tell me, what is your rental expenditure p.a. as a percentage of salary

a) Rent as a percentage of Salary: say x%

b) Reduce x by 10, so you have (x-10)%

c) Your HRA as a component in salary structure should be (x-10)% or 50% whichever is lower.

Q.8. I want to do HRA planning by finding out how much rent should I pay to get the maximum benefit? Please advice.

This means that your HRA is fixed but you want to know what amount of rent can get maximum benefit to you.

If your HRA is 50% of salary or more, then your rent can be 60% of salary.

If your HRA is less than 50% of salary, then your rent can be (HRA as a percentage of Salary + 10)%

Please note: This is Tax Planning not Tax avoidance. This is one of my researched tax planning option… so enjoy!

WISH YOU A HAPPY AND A PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR.

 

28 Responses to “HRA deduction – Tax Planning Tips and Clarifications”

  1. Muthu Says:

    Hi,
    could u plz send me the model House Rent recipt,so that i can climb it from my houseowner……

  2. sanjaykadel Says:

    [Name of the Landlord]
    [Address of the House]

    “RENT RECEIPT”

    Received with thanks from ____________, a sum of Rs.________ as mentioned below being the rent @ Rs.________ per month, for the period from ________ to ___________, in respect of residential portion occupied in the _________ floor of above premises.

    [TAble to be put]
    Rent for the month of : Date of Payment: Mode of Payment: Amount (Rs.)

    Date: ____________
    Place: ________

    [Land Lord Signature]

  3. Sonal Says:

    Can u plz tell me, if i am co. & i want to give HRA to employees for claiming deduction then what will be the calcualation? Their is any rule for company if we are giving gross salary to them then what will be the bifurcation of Salary & HRA in percentage?

  4. sanjaykadel Says:

    In structuring the salary of an employee, there is no hard and fast rule for fixing HRA component. Usually Basic Wages are taken to be 50% of the total package of salary and then there is dearness allowance – say 20% of the total pay package. Then you can get the HRA component by applying FAQ no.7 (Given above) Hope you get it!

  5. Anonymous Says:

    alert(1)

  6. Linit Says:

    Please let me know Can i submit Rent aggrement with my landlord as a proof to avail HRA exemption?

  7. sanjaykadel Says:

    You can submit Rent Agreement BUT THAT ALONE IS NOT ENOUGH. You need to give the proof of payment of Rent, which means Rent Receipt is a must.

  8. Mohideen Says:

    Hi,

    After HRA exemption, balance of Rs.40,780 is left with for inclusion in taxable income. My doubt is , how tax is calculated on the balance either
    1, 30 % of balance
    2, included in taxable income & calulated as per tax slab

    Provide your comments

  9. mani kumar Says:

    How shall i get the house rent proof from lesser.is there any format?Pl send me that format and how to fill it up?

  10. mani kumar Says:

    If i submit the rent proof shall i need any attestation (sign from government ghezated officer) against the proof?

  11. mani kumar Says:

    Howmuch maximum can i detuct HRA from my salary.Iam in bangalore (peenya indl. estate)I am having consolidate pay of 15000 rupees.

  12. sanjaykadel Says:

    Rent proof does not require any sort of attestation or sign from gazzetted officer or CA. Rent Proof should definitely have the sign of the landlord or landlady. That’s set.

  13. sanjaykadel Says:

    For Mr. Mani Kumar: Max deductible amount from your consolidated pay of 15000 rupees.
    Please tell me, What is your HRA component in the consolidated pay? or What is the rent you actually pay per month?
    Then probably I can answer your question.

  14. sanjaykadel Says:

    For Mr. Mohideen: Your question:
    After HRA exemption, balance of Rs.40,780 is left with for inclusion in taxable income. My doubt is , how tax is calculated on the balance either
    1, 30 % of balance
    2, included in taxable income & calulated as per tax slab

    Provide your comments

    Answer:
    After HRA exemption, the balance amount will be included in taxable income and calculated as per tax slab. Your second option is right.

  15. sanjaykadel Says:

    For Mr. Mani:
    your questioN:
    How shall i get the house rent proof from lesser.is there any format?Pl send me that format and how to fill it up?

    Answer:
    The format is already there in this page. It’s easy to fill. Only basic info is required. Just go thru (Comment no. 2 on this post).

  16. Imran Says:

    Hi Sanjay,
    I have –
    HRA = 70,512
    40% of Salary = 94,013
    Excess of rent paid over 10% of salary = 54,497

    1. My landlord can not produce rent receipts due to some reasons. How much exemption can I get inthis condition?

    2. To get the benifit of the above mentioned HRA amount(70,512), is it mandatory to produce rent receipts?

    Please suggest.

    Thanks,
    Imran

  17. Vikal Tripathy Says:

    Professional Tax:

    You said
    Salary means Basic Salary + Dearness Allowance + Commission which is based on turnover acheived.

    Should we deduct the Profession tax from this, which is deducted at source. This tax is deducted from all salaries in some states like West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and others.

  18. sanjaykadel Says:

    NO. The Profession tax should not be deducted while calculating the salary for the purpose of computing HRA.

  19. meghal Vasa Says:

    I am trying to upload the XML via e-filing website
    https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in
    but it always gives following error:
    Errors during Upload of ITR Return  
    Invalid XML File. Form Section of ITR is incomplete, please correct and upload again.
    Also how to digitally sign the return doc??
    pls advise!!

  20. pavan Says:

    sir my hra is 4500 where my basic is 9000 p/m
    so tell me whether i have to pay tax for the hra

  21. srihari Says:

    my annual income is 1.8Lakh, my question “is tax deduction is applicable for this income”.

  22. Deepa Says:

    I am staying in a joint family with my in-Laws. The house is in teh name of my father-in-law. Can I claim HRA in this situation.

  23. Gupta Says:

    I have not declared monthly rent and not submitted rent receipts to my employer.
    Can i produce rent receipts while i file for tax returns and get tax exemption?

  24. Hi,

    I’m setting up a new company and I’m curious as to how HRA is withheld from an employee’s salary and paid out.

    Please advise.
    Farrah

  25. HRA Calculation Says:

    Sir i am not able to undersand HRA calculation “Excess of Rent paid over 10% of Salary” Kindly clearify the same

  26. Senthil Says:

    Sir i am not able to undersand HRA calculation “Excess of Rent paid over 10% of Salary” Kindly clearify the same

  27. Anil Says:

    Sir
    I am staying with my parents and receiving Rs. X as HRA.
    My father owns the house and he has other taxable income.
    Can I pay rent to my mother to claim HRA deduction, as she has no other taxable income.


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