You have a question about house rent allowance, medical allowance or even a general tax query.

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I  live with my parents. My dad owns the house but is financially dependent on me. I pay Rs 5,000 every month to him as house rent, for which I get a receipt. 

Can I claim HRA on this?

- Ananth Prasad K S

I pay Rs 5,000 every month to my mother as house rent. She owns the house and gives me a receipt.  She is not financially dependent on me.

Can I get a tax benefit?

- Ruchika Bhatnagar

I pay Rs 7,000 every month to my wife as house rent. She owns the house and gives me a receipt. She is a PAN holder and files a return regularly.

Can I get tax benefit though she is dependent on me? 

 - Ashish Chandra

What is HRA?

House Rent Allowance is a component of your salary package. This allowance is given by an employer to an employee to meet the cost of renting an accommodation.

When is it valid?

If you pay no rent either because you stay in a rent-free accommodation or live with your family or in your own house, you will not get this benefit.

This benefit is also not available if the rent you pay does not exceed 10% of your salary.

In order to claim HRA, the following minimum conditions should exist:

1. You should be staying in a rented accomodation.
2. The house should not be owned by you.
3. You should be paying the rent.
4. This rent must be in excess of 10% of salary (salary, in this case, includes your basic salary + dearness allowance).

If these conditions are satisfied, the HRA benefit is available to you.

Rent to parents

It would be advisable for the landlord, in this case your parent, to declare this income in his/ her personal Income Tax return. This will prevent any litigation in the future.

Rent to spouse

The relationship between a husband and wife is not commercial in nature. After all, a husband and wife are supposed to stay together.

Hence, payment of rent to a spouse (in your case, your wife) may not be accepted by the income tax authorities. They may view this as a sham transaction to avoid tax.

• Claim home loan benefits, HRA

I get Rs 120,000 per annum as HRA, which is 50% of my basic salary. I pay a rent of Rs 10,000 per month.

Will there be any tax on the HRA I get?

 - Nayab Saiyed

 Since Rs 1,20,000 is 50% of your basic salary, then it is safe to assume that your basic is Rs 2,40,000.

I am also going to further assume that you reside in a metro.

Rent paid = Rs 1,20,000 (Rs 10,000 x 12)
Basic salary = Rs 2,40,000
HRA = Rs 1,20,000 (Rs 10,000 x 12)

The deduction on account of HRA would be as follows:

1	50% of basic salary	Rs 1,20,000
2	HRA received	Rs 1,20,000
3	Rent paid in excess of 10% of basic	Rs 1,20,000 � (Rs 2,40,000 x 10%) = Rs 1,20,000 � Rs 24,000 = Rs 96,000
	The least amount among the above three options is exempt from tax	Rs 96,000