Calculate your House Rent Allowance (HRA) tax exemption under Section 10(13A) — see all 3 rules side-by-side and find your exact tax savings.
A real-time HRA exemption calculator for Indian salaried taxpayers. Enter your basic salary, DA, HRA received, and rent paid — instantly see all three exemption rules computed side-by-side with the lowest (your actual exemption) highlighted. Toggle between metro (50%) and non-metro (40%) cities, switch between Old and New tax regimes, and pick your marginal slab to see exactly how much tax you save every year and month.
Under Section 10(13A) of the Income Tax Act, your HRA exemption equals the minimum of three values: (1) the actual HRA received from your employer, (2) 50% of your Basic + DA if you live in a metro city or 40% if non-metro, and (3) the rent you actually paid minus 10% of your Basic + DA. Whichever number is smallest is the amount exempt from tax. The remainder of your HRA is added back to taxable salary income. This rule is annual but the calculation is typically done monthly when components change mid-year.
The New Tax Regime offers lower slab rates but disallows almost all exemptions and deductions, including HRA. The Old Regime keeps higher slab rates but lets you claim HRA, 80C, 80D, home loan interest, and more. For salaried renters in metros with high HRA, the Old Regime usually wins because the HRA exemption alone can shield ₹2-6 lakh of income annually. As a quick rule, if your combined exemptions exceed roughly ₹4.5 lakh, the Old Regime tends to be cheaper.
To survive scrutiny, retain rent receipts for every month (or at least quarterly), a signed rent agreement showing the address and amount, bank statements proving rent transfers (avoid cash), and your landlord PAN if annual rent exceeds ₹1,00,000. If the landlord has no PAN, get a signed Form 60 declaration. Salaried employees should submit these to the employer HR/finance team during the investment-proof submission window — usually January-February — to get full HRA exemption reflected in Form 16.
For HRA purposes, only four cities qualify as metro: Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai. Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Gurgaon, Noida, and others are treated as non-metro and use the 40% rule, regardless of their cost of living.
Yes. You can pay rent to parents and claim HRA, provided the arrangement is genuine — your parents must own the property, you should transfer rent through bank (not cash), and they must declare the rental income in their own ITR. Spouses cannot pay each other rent for HRA.
If your annual rent exceeds ₹1,00,000 (about ₹8,333/month), you must report your landlord PAN to your employer. If the landlord refuses or does not have a PAN, a signed declaration is required. Without these, the employer may deny HRA exemption.
No. The New Regime (default since FY 2023-24) does not permit HRA exemption under Section 10(13A). To claim HRA against rent, you must opt out and file under the Old Regime. Compare both regimes before deciding — sometimes the New Regime lower slabs win even without HRA.
Yes — they are independent benefits. If you live in a rented home in your work city while owning a home elsewhere (let-out or self-occupied), you can simultaneously claim HRA exemption on rent paid and Section 24(b) deduction on home loan interest. Just be ready to justify the genuine need to rent.
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