Comments
I stay in a house where I pay ₹10,000 as rent every month and want to claim tax relief in lieu of the payment. My employer says that I need to produce the PAN number of my landlord for the purpose of claiming tax deduction. Is my employer right in asking me this? My landlord is a very old man and does not have a PAN card.
- Surag
As per Income-Tax law, House Rent Allowance (HRA) paid to an assessee by his employer to meet expenditure actually incurred on payment of rent on a residential accommodation occupied by the assessee shall be exempt up to the prescribed limits.
As a proof that rent has actually been paid, the Central Board of Direct Taxes vide Circular No. 8 of 2013 dated October 10, 2013, has directed all employers to collect the Permanent Account Number of the landlord of the employee from the employee if the total rent paid during the year exceeds ₹1 lakh. As per the same circular, in case the landlord does not have a PAN, a declaration to this effect is required from the landlord along with the name and address of the landlord.
Since your landlord does not have a PAN, he can give a declaration to this effect to you with his name and complete address. You can then submit the said declaration along with other documents to your employer to claim exemption of House Rent Allowance. In terms of the above-said circular, the employer should be able to give the benefit of exemption to you.
My father is 65 years old and is not employed. He had saved a sum of ₹5 lakh as cash. An account was opened in a bank and the amount was put in a fixed deposit in June 2013. The interest rate was 9 per cent and the instruction given to the bank was to pay the monthly interest in the account till March this year. The bank has paid out ₹34,000 as interest. My father has no other source of income or savings. Does he have to file a return for FY2013-14?
S Karthigayan
As per the provisions of Indian Income Tax law, an individual is required to file his tax return if his taxable income is more than the maximum amount not chargeable to tax. Since your father’s taxable income during FY2013-14 is less than the maximum exemption limit of ₹2,50,000 applicable in the case of a senior citizen (greater than or equal to 60 years, but less than 80 years of age), your father is not mandatorily required to file an income tax return for FY2013-14.
The writer is a practicing chartered accountant. Send in your queries to >taxtalk@thehindu.co.in
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.