HRA Exemption Calculator

It is the least of three amounts: the HRA you actually received; 50% of salary if you rent in a 50% city, otherwise 40%; and the rent you paid less 10% of salary. Salary here is basic plus DA plus turnover-based commission. On a ₹50,000 basic, ₹20,000 HRA and ₹18,000 rent in Bengaluru for 2026-27: HRA ₹2.4 lakh; 50% of salary ₹3 lakh; rent less 10% is ₹2.16 lakh − ₹60,000 = ₹1.56 lakh. The exemption is ₹1.56 lakh and ₹84,000 is taxable.

For decades only four: Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. From tax year 2026-27, Rule 279 of the Income-tax Rules 2026 adds Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune and Ahmedabad, so eight cities qualify for the 50% figure. Gurugram, Noida, Navi Mumbai and every other place stay at 40%. Pick the year the salary belongs to; the calculator applies the matching list.

No. Section 115BAC removes the section 10(13A) exemption. The new regime is the default, so if you have not opted for the old one, the whole HRA is taxable. Whether the old regime still wins overall depends on your other deductions — the regime comparison calculator does that arithmetic.

Rent equal to the HRA plus 10% of salary, provided the 50%/40% ceiling is not already lower than the HRA. On a ₹50,000 basic with ₹20,000 HRA, that is ₹20,000 + ₹5,000 = ₹25,000 a month. The calculator reports this figure whenever it exists.

If the rent exceeds ₹1 lakh a year, yes — your employer must collect the landlord’s PAN, or a signed declaration if they do not have one, before allowing the exemption in TDS. From 2026-27 the declaration form also asks whether the landlord is a relative. Paying rent to a parent is allowed, but they must declare it as income.

They answer different questions. An HRA calculator on a payroll site usually shows how much house rent allowance is in your package, which is simply the figure in your CTC. This page is the exemption calculator: it works out how much of that allowance is free of tax under section 10(13A), which is the least of the HRA received, 50% of salary in a metro city or 40% elsewhere, and rent paid minus 10% of salary. The exempt part reduces taxable income under the old regime only; the new regime does not allow the HRA exemption at all.

A house rent allowance calculator works out the exempt part of the HRA in your salary, and it needs four figures from your payslip and rent receipts: basic salary plus dearness allowance, the HRA received, the rent actually paid, and whether the city is on the metro list. From those it takes the least of the three statutory limits. Rent above ₹1 lakh a year also needs the landlord’s PAN for the claim, and the exemption only applies under the old regime.