HRA exemption is only available under the old tax regime, and is the lowest of three amounts: actual HRA received, rent paid minus 10% of basic salary, or 50%/40% of basic salary (metro/non-metro).
HRA (House Rent Allowance) exemption under the old tax regime is the lowest of three amounts: the actual HRA you receive from your employer, your actual rent paid minus 10% of your basic salary, or 50% of basic salary (for metro cities) / 40% (for non-metro cities). Whichever of these three is smallest becomes your tax-exempt HRA amount — the rest is added to your taxable income.
This exemption is only available under the old tax regime — if you've opted for the new regime, your entire HRA is taxable regardless of rent paid, since the new regime doesn't allow this exemption.
Yes, and if your annual rent exceeds ₹1,00,000, you also need your landlord's PAN details to claim the exemption when filing your return.
Yes, this is allowed — you can pay rent to a parent who owns the property and claim HRA exemption, provided there's a genuine rental arrangement, receipts, and your parent declares this rental income in their own tax return.
Only Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai are treated as metro cities for HRA purposes (50% of basic). All other cities, including Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Pune, use the 40% non-metro rate.