HRA Exemption Calculator

It is the lowest of three amounts: the HRA you actually receive, the rent you pay minus 10% of your basic salary plus DA, and 50% of that salary if you live in a metro city or 40% if you do not. Whatever is left of your HRA after the exemption is added to your taxable income.

From 1 April 2026 there are 8: Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad. Until FY 2025-26 only Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai counted. What matters is the city where your rented home is, not where your office or payslip is. Nearby cities such as Gurugram, Noida and Navi Mumbai are not treated as Delhi or Mumbai.

Basic salary plus dearness allowance (and commission that is a fixed percentage of turnover), not your gross pay. Special allowances, bonuses and other components do not count. Take the basic and DA figures from your payslip.

No. The HRA exemption is an old regime benefit. If you choose the new regime you cannot claim it, so it is worth comparing both regimes before you decide. Our income tax calculator does that side by side.

Your employer usually asks for rent receipts or a rent agreement, and generally for your landlord's PAN when the rent for the year goes above ₹1 lakh. Keep proof of payment, since the claim can be questioned later. If you pay rent to a parent, the payment has to be genuine and the parent has to show it as income.

Then this exemption does not apply, but a separate deduction for rent paid may be available to you if you meet its conditions. The income tax calculator on this site covers both.

The exemption is worked out for the months you actually paid rent. Enter the months rented, and the calculator applies the three tests to those months of salary, HRA and rent.

It applies the rule as we understand it for the current tax year and is a planning estimate, not tax advice. Your employer's payroll may round or treat components differently, so confirm the final figure with them or a chartered accountant.