The Most Complete Guide on Rent Receipts/Slips to claim maximum HRA Tax Benefits

Why rent receipts are required?

To apply for a Rent House (HRA) grant, you are required to provide proof of rent to the employer, rent receipts serving as proof. The employer may offer deductions and benefits after the same confirmation. The HRA allocation is based on tax receipts and will be calculated accordingly.

So, What are rent receipts exactly?

Of course, this is not a strange question to be asked but a valid and important question. One must have an understanding of receiving the receipt psychologically and economically. A rent receipt is proof of transactional rent paid by the landlord to the landlord. A receipt is issued by the landlord when he or she receives rent from the tenant and his or her signatures are included in it. If you receive a rent receipt, you must keep the documents you care about. Rental receipts may be used for legal purposes (if any) or tax benefits if applicable.

What are the elements of a rent receipt?

We can understand rental receipt items with the following statement:
"Rental work takes place between the tenant and the landlord on a specific day each month so that there is an address and lease of xxx value for a period of one month."

If you are still confused about this information and would like to produce a rental receipt onlineclick to generate rent receipt

Some examples/formats of rent receipts being used in India:

India is a large multilingual country, transactional writing system, and different formats used by receipt book publishers, we have many formats / designs available in the market. Professionals / Staff are often confused because of these different formats available.
We present to you some of the formats we have found in India to help you understand that they are all the same and serve the same purpose.

Rent slip format:

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For the convenience of our users, we provide a place to customize and download printable rental receipts (valid format) from our rental generator tool.

Now comes the question, what is the actual benefit of Rent Receipts?

Many companies provide employees with a House Rent Allowance (HRA) to cover the cost of living in a rented area. The HRA is one of the largest ways to save taxes as the total amount of HRA can be taxable.
The least of the three amounts is tax exempt -

• Actual HRA received
• Rent paid less 10% of Salary
• 40% of Salary (50% of Salary in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata)

In order to provide HRA benefits, the HR department needs to verify that you have actually paid the rent by approving the HRA tax exemption.
Lease receipts serve as proof that you paid the fine and do not reflect non-tax expense.

Is rent receipt mandatory for claiming HRA?

• If employee receives HRA in excess of Rs. 3000/- per month, it is mandatory to provide Rent receipt to employer as an evidence for claiming HRA.
• Even if your HRA is less than Rs. 3000/-, try to keep rent receipts with you in case Income Tax Officer asks for them at a later date.

I am sure you will agree with me when I say that homeowners do not give rent receipts even after paying rent. So, what do we do in this situation? Simply give your rental rental receipt to your employer and ask him or her to sign it to acknowledge receipt.

Where to get the rent receipts from to be submitted to the HR department?

There is no set format for hiring receipts for HRA exemption. Here's a trick to finding one-

• Search the web and choose the one you like from the options available. Like
• Buy a rent receipt booklet from the stationery

Why I am required to submit rent receipts to the HR Department?

According to our State Tax Act, everyone who pays a salary is required to deduct the source tax (TDS), deposit money from the government and pay the remaining amount to the employee. During this process, if any employee makes a tax deduction for the person who is responsible for the tax, he or she must look at and deduct the expenditure and deduct the tax from the total amount.
In general, it has been observed that people bring in fake tax receipts, or do not live in a rented area. Therefore, to combat this, HR departments have begun requesting employment contracts by providing HRA benefits.
Looking at the importance of rent agreements, here are 5 things to check in your rent agreement
Smart tactics to be followed at the time of drafting rent agreements-


• Rent agreement should be on Rs. 500 stamp or as per the stamp rate prevailing in your state .
• It can be entered into for 11 months only.
• For more than 12 months, the rent agreement is not entered into instead lease deed is to be preferred which needs registration.
• Every year, the rent agreement is renewed after 11 months with the increased rent.
• Both landlord and tenant are required to serve the notice period as stated in agreement.

Important things to note about the rent receipts:

• A revenue stamp is required to be based on rent receipts if the cash payment is more than Rands. 5000 each receipt. When tax is payable by check a stamp is not available.
• Monthly rent receipts for an HRA applicant must be submitted.
• If the annual fee exceeds Rs.1,00,000 / - it is mandatory to report the PAN of the landowner to claim the release of the HRA. 1,00,000 / - and your employer will deduct the TDS accordingly.

What to do when your landlord refuses to give his PAN?

First my friends don't ask for a copy of the PAN Card, all you need is a PAN No. If possible, the landlord does not have a PAN card and take the notice to him or her and send it to your HR. Prevention is better than cure, when you rent a house talk to your landlord in advance to share PAN no.
Is it right to submit fake rent receipts at my office to claim HRA?
Submitting a fake rent receipt can put you in trouble with Tax Department. know more

How payment of rent helps you in saving taxes?

There can be three situations, when you are paying rent for the rented accommodation -

• When HRA is a part of your CTC & you submit the proof of rent payment to your HR
• When HRA is a part of your CTC & you forget to submit the proof of rent payment to your HR
• When HRA is not a part of your CTC

Notes :
Condition A :

Calculation of exempted HRA (Rent Paid - 1,80,000/-) :-

• Actual HRA received - 2,50,000/-
• Rent Paid- 10% of Basic +DA= {180000- (700000*10%)}=110000/-
• 50% of Basic + DA ( 700000*50%)= 350000/=

A, B,C whichever is lower is to be selected as exempted HRA.
Condition B :
You can still apply for an HRA tax benefit at the time of completing the refund as the HRA is part of your CTC. The only vision loss you will have to carry is the extra TDS that will be reduced during the year.
Condition C :
If the HRA is not part of your CTC, do not be discouraged. You can still apply for a deduction for rent paid at the time of completing the refund s / s 80GG but up to Rs. Only 60,000.

What if I forgot to submit rent receipts at the time of declaration?

Even if you forgot to submit rent receipts, you can still apply for an HRA while applying for IT Return. All you need is Rental Receipts only.

How to claim HRA exemption at the time of filing the ITR?

Here is a step-by step process for claiming HRA exemption-

• Step 1:Calculate the HRA release rate as described above. To avoid difficulty you can also use of our HRA release calculation to find out the amount of HRA released to https://www.myitronline.com/tools/hra-exemption-calculator/
• Step2 : Subtract the amount of HRA released from the Income Chargeable under the head salary [column 6 of you Form16, Part B].
• Step3: Enter the amount listed in Step 2 under Income From Salary / Pension. For example, your total salary from Form 16 is 8,00,000 and you have an HRA exemption of Rs. 1,20,000, So instead of showing salary amount Rs. 8,00,000 / - on ITR1 complete as 6,80,000 / -.

Who can claim HRA exemption ?

If you satisfy these conditions, you can claim HRA tax exemption:

• You are a salaried employee.
• You receive HRA as a part of your salary package/CTC.
• You live in a rented accommodation.

How HRA is exempt for income tax?

Although the HRA is part of the salary, unlike the basic salary, it is not taxable at all. A portion of the HRA is exempt under Section 10 (13A) of the Tax Act, subject to certain conditions. The amount of HRA exempted is deducted from the gross salary prior to tax deduction.

Can I pay rent to my parents and claim HRA?

Yes, you can apply for an HRA tax exemption by paying rent to your parents. It is recommended to have a lease agreement. You will need rent receipts to claim an HRA exemption. Also, your parents need to show you the rental income from you in their tax return.

Can I claim HRA and home loan?

Yes, indeed. You can want both. If you live in a rented house, you have the right to claim an HRA tax exemption. At the same time, if you take out a home loan you can apply for home loan benefits. If you have bought a house with the help of a home loan and live in another rental house, you can apply for the benefit of both your taxes. But if the house you bought and the house you live in are in the same city, you should have a real reason not to live in the house that you own, to prove to the Tax Officer. The reasons may be that the house you are living in is too far away, or the commute to work is too difficult.

Can HRA be claimed if I own a house?

No, you cannot enjoy HRA tax benefits if you live in your own home. One cannot afford to pay rent. Therefore, no concessions are made to the HRA and every HRA received is taxed under the “Income from Salary”. But if you live in a rented area, you can apply for exemption even if you own a house (in the same city or another city).

Can HRA be claimed for paying rent for 2 houses?

This can only happen if you live in both houses for a certain year for a limited number of months.

How LTA is Calculated?

• In the case of LTA, the employer reimburses the travel expenses of the employee taken by the employee. Anyway, any other costs such as food, purchases, accommodation and so on are not included in the exemption. Only available for two children of a person, born after October 1, 1998 including a step or adoption.
• Travelling Twice in a block of Four years is allowed. The current block is 2014-17.
• Mode of travel should be air, rail or any other public mode of transport.
• Allowed for domestic travels and not for international travels.

Can husband pay rent to wife and claim HRA?

Usually, HRA Tax benefits are not required by paying rent to your spouse. Therefore, if you live in your spouse's home then an HRA exemption is not available to you. However, if you still want to apply for exemption, you should be prepared to file charges as the Tax Officer may have a different opinion.

Can HRA be claimed by both husband and wife?

Yes, why not, if both are paying taxes. Also, it would be better for the landlord to issue two separate rent receipts or to specify the amount of work each person receives on the rent receipt.

Can I use my electric bill as a tax deduction?

There is no tax deduction in respect of electricity bill. However, if you are in business you can file a similar claim with the cost of your business.

What is section 10 exemption?

Sec 10 includes that revenue part of the total revenue i.e. exempt revenue. Such as agricultural income, defined interest income, divorce income etc.

What is HRA deduction?

The HRA or House Rent Allowance is a grant that people who earn money from their employer meet the cost of renting their house. The amount earned in part is tax exempt, for an employee living in a rented house. In the event that an employee stays in his or her home and does not pay the rent, the entire amount will be taxed.