HRA Claim Mistakes: There can be many mistakes while making HRA claim, which should be avoided otherwise you will not be able to get the full benefit of this tax exemption component.
HRA Claim: Financial year 2024-25 is going on and filing of income tax returns has already started. Income Tax Department has released ITR forms. Apart from this, employers have sent information to their employees to give investment declaration and this process is going on in many institutions. There is a discussion going on among the people regarding the selection of new tax regime and old tax regime and there are many questions in the minds of taxpayers regarding which tax regime should be used to return income tax.
Mistakes made in claiming HRA can prove costly
In the old tax regime, people filing income tax returns are required to provide investment proof and a major component for this is HRA i.e. House Rent Allowance. By claiming HRA, a large section of the salaried class tries to save their tax, for which they usually claim HRA by giving rent slip. However, to make HRA claim, many times employees resort to such proof in return of which the employer can reject the claim. Keeping this in mind, we are telling you what things should be kept in mind and which you should avoid.
- Avoid these mistakes while claiming HRA
- Do not rely only on rent receipts
- Often employees keep rent receipts in their office to claim HRA. This does not guarantee exemption from tax deduction in any case and apart from these, you should also attach some solid documents in your favor like bank account details etc.
Absence of rent agreement can cause problems
Many times, to claim HRA, employees mention their parents, brother or any other relative etc. and say that the rent agreement was not made. If the matter is ever investigated and the rent agreement is not found, your HRA deduction may be rejected.
Paying in cash can give headache
If you have paid the landlord in cash and you do not have proof of it (not even a receipt), then your HRA claim may be rejected. You should always transact the rent into the landlord’s bank account instead of cash payment and should have the bank statement mentioning this.
