Tax · Free tool
HRA Exemption Calculator
See how much of your House Rent Allowance is tax-free under Section 10(13A) of the Income Tax Act. Enter the three numbers from your salary slip and rent receipt — the calculator picks the minimum of the three legal formulas, which is what gets exempted.
Metro under HRA = Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai only. Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune etc. are non-metro for this rule.
How we got there
Three legal calculations — exemption is the smallest of these (monthly).
- Actual HRA receivedBinding₹20,000
- 50% of basic + DA₹25,000
- Rent paid − 10% of basic + DA₹20,000
Tip: if rent is below 10% of your basic, condition (3) becomes zero — you get no HRA exemption at all.
The three-way HRA formula
Your HRA exemption is the minimum of these three:
- The actual HRA you receive from your employer.
- 50% of basic + DA if you live in a metro, 40% if non-metro.
- Rent paid minus 10% of basic + DA.
Whichever is smallest, that's your exemption. The remainder of the HRA you received is taxed as part of your salary income.
What counts as a metro for HRA?
Only Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai. The Income Tax Act does not treat Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad or Gurugram as metros for HRA — even though rents there are often higher. If you live in any of those cities, use the 40% non-metro rate.
Documents you need
- Rent receipts (monthly or quarterly) signed by the landlord.
- Rent agreement (helps if HR/IT asks).
- Landlord's PAN if your annual rent exceeds ₹1,00,000 — without it, employers will tax the HRA fully.
HRA only works under the old regime
The new tax regime does not allow HRA exemption. If you have substantial HRA savings, factor that in when comparing regimes — try the result here in our Income Tax Calculator (paste the annual exempt amount into the “HRA exemption” field).