HRA Calculator
Find how much of your House Rent Allowance is tax-free — the least of three statutory limits, with the taxable balance shown alongside.
What is the HRA exemption?
House Rent Allowance is the part of your salary meant to cover rent — and if you actually pay rent, section 10(13A) lets you keep part of it tax-free. The exempt amount is the least of three statutory limits, so the answer depends on your basic salary, the HRA you receive, the rent you pay and whether you live in a metro.
This calculator computes all three limits side by side, picks the least, and shows the exempt and taxable split of your HRA. Note that the exemption is available only under the old tax regime.
The least-of-three rule
Exempt HRA = least of [ HRA received | Rent − 10% of (Basic + DA) | 50% or 40% of (Basic + DA) ]
- HRA received — the actual allowance paid by your employer for the year
- Rent − 10% of salary — rent paid minus one-tenth of Basic + DA; if your rent is under 10% of salary, nothing is exempt
- 50% / 40% of salary — 50% of Basic + DA in the four metros (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai), 40% everywhere else
- Taxable HRA — HRA received minus the exempt amount, added to your salary income
How to use this calculator
- Pick your city of residence — Metro applies the 50% limit, Non-metro the 40% limit.
- Enter your annual Basic salary + DA.
- Enter the HRA you receive for the year.
- Enter the rent you pay for the year.
- Read the three limits, the exempt HRA (the least of the three) and the taxable balance.
A worked example
Metro city, Basic + DA ₹6,00,000, HRA received ₹2,40,000, rent paid ₹3,00,000:
- Actual HRA received: ₹2,40,000
- Rent − 10% of basic: 3,00,000 − 60,000 = ₹2,40,000
- 50% of basic (metro): ₹3,00,000
- Exempt HRA — the least of the three: ₹2,40,000; taxable HRA: nil
Shift the numbers — basic ₹8,00,000, HRA ₹3,00,000, rent ₹2,40,000 — and the rent-minus-10% limit (₹1,60,000) binds instead, leaving ₹1,40,000 of the HRA taxable.
Old regime only — and the paperwork
The HRA exemption exists only in the old tax regime; the default new regime taxes the full HRA. If HRA is a big number for you, compare both regimes before choosing — the exemption is often a deciding factor.
Keep the paperwork tight: rent receipts or a rent agreement for your employer, your landlord’s PAN once annual rent crosses ₹1,00,000, and remember that individuals paying rent above ₹50,000 a month must deduct TDS at 2% under section 194-IB.
No. Section 115BAC drops the 10(13A) exemption, so the whole HRA is taxable in the new regime. If your HRA claim is large, run both regimes before picking — the old regime with HRA, 80C and home-loan interest sometimes still wins.
Yes, if the arrangement is genuine: they own the house, you actually transfer the rent (bank trail helps), and they declare it as rental income in their returns. Rent paid to a spouse is generally not accepted.
Only Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Gurugram and every other city use the 40% limit, whatever their rents look like.
Yes — section 80GG allows a deduction of up to ₹60,000 a year (old regime) if neither you, your spouse nor minor child owns a home in your city, subject to its own least-of-three computation.
Once the rent you claim exceeds ₹1,00,000 a year, your employer needs the landlord’s PAN to allow the exemption in payroll. Without it, the exemption is denied at source — you can still claim it in your ITR with proof.