CHENNAI:
If you are a salaried taxpayer claiming HRA (house rent allowance) deduction,
watch out. The central government has lowered the exemption limit for reporting
the rent received. Salaried taxpayers claiming HRA exemption and paying a rent
of over Rs 1 lakh per year have to give landlord's PAN (permanent account
number). Till now, if the total rent paid was less than Rs 15,000 a month there
was no need to submit the landlord's PAN details. The new rule effectively
lowers the rent limit from Rs 15,000 a month to Rs 8,333 per month for claiming
HRA exemption without making any disclosures.
"Further,
if annual rent paid by the employee exceeds Rs 1,00,000 per annum, it is
mandatory for the employee to report PAN of the landlord to the employer,"
the Central Board of Direct Taxes said in its latest circular. "In case
the landlord does not have a PAN, a declaration to this effect from the
landlord along with the name and address of the landlord should be filed by the
employee," it said.
Though
incurring actual expenditure on payment of rent is a pre-requisite for claiming
deduction under section 10(13A) of the I-Tax Act, it has been decided as an
administrative measure that salaried employees drawing HRA up to Rs 3,000 per
month will be exempted from production of rent receipt.
Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
