·4 min read·Guides
Rent Receipts for HRA in 2026-27: Rules, Landlord PAN and a Free Format
Who needs rent receipts, how HRA exemption is calculated, when your landlord's PAN is required, the revenue stamp rule, the new 50% metro cities from April 2026, and how to make a full year of receipts as a PDF for free.
Rent receipts are proof for claiming House Rent Allowance (HRA) exemption, which is available only under the old tax regime. Each receipt should show the tenant, landlord, property address, the month, the rent amount in figures and words, how it was paid and the landlord's signature. If your rent is above ₹1,00,000 a year (about ₹8,333 a month), your employer also needs the landlord's PAN. Cash payments above ₹5,000 need a revenue stamp signed across. The exempt amount is the lowest of your actual HRA, rent minus 10% of salary, and 50% of salary in the eight big metro cities (40% elsewhere).
Do it now, free and without uploading anything: Rent Receipt Generator, Income Tax Calculator (Old vs New Regime), Salary Slip Generator.
Every January, payroll teams ask salaried employees for rent receipts, and many people end up hunting for a format at the last minute. Here is what the receipts are for, what they must show, the rules that trip people up, and how to make a whole year of them in a couple of minutes.
Who needs rent receipts
You need rent receipts if all of these are true:
- You are salaried and your salary includes House Rent Allowance (HRA).
- You live in a rented home and pay the rent yourself.
- You choose the old tax regime for the year.
HRA exemption is not available in the new tax regime, so if you choose the new regime (the default), the full HRA is taxed and receipts are not needed. Not sure which regime is better for you? Compare both in the income tax calculator.
Employers commonly let small rents through without receipts, traditionally up to ₹3,000 a month, but most ask for them anyway. Keep them regardless: if the tax department questions your claim, receipts and bank records are your proof.
What a rent receipt must show
| Detail | Example |
|---|---|
| Tenant's name | Priya Nair |
| Landlord's name | Ramesh Kumar |
| Address of the rented property | Flat 4B, Green Residency, Kakkanad, Kochi 682030 |
| Month (or period) | April 2026 |
| Rent amount, in figures and words | ₹18,000 (Eighteen Thousand Rupees Only) |
| Payment mode | UPI / bank transfer / cheque / cash |
| Landlord's PAN | Needed if yearly rent is above ₹1,00,000 |
| Landlord's signature | And a revenue stamp for cash above ₹5,000 |
One receipt per month is the usual practice. Many people submit all twelve at once at the end of the year.
The landlord PAN rule
If the total rent for the year is more than ₹1,00,000, your employer needs your landlord's PAN to allow the exemption. That is about ₹8,333 a month, so most city rents cross it.
If your landlord does not have a PAN, ask for a signed declaration with their name and address stating that. Employers generally accept it in place of the PAN.
The revenue stamp rule
A receipt for a cash payment above ₹5,000 should carry a ₹1 revenue stamp with the landlord's signature across it. Payments by UPI, bank transfer or cheque do not need a stamp, and they also create a bank record that backs up your claim, which makes them the safer way to pay rent.
How much HRA is exempt
The exempt amount is the lowest of these three:
- The HRA you actually received
- Rent paid minus 10% of your salary
- 50% of your salary in the metro cities listed below, or 40% elsewhere
"Salary" here means basic pay plus dearness allowance (and commission fixed as a percentage of turnover, if any), not your full gross pay.
The 50% cities from April 2026
Until March 2026, only Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai used 50%. Tax advisers report that the Income-tax Rules, 2026, in force from 1 April 2026, add Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune and Ahmedabad. Your employer's payroll applies the rule, so confirm with them if your city is one of the new four.
A worked example
Arjun lives in Bengaluru. His basic pay plus DA is ₹50,000 a month, his HRA is ₹25,000 a month and his rent is ₹22,000 a month. For the year:
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| 1. Actual HRA received | ₹3,00,000 |
| 2. Rent paid minus 10% of salary: ₹2,64,000 − ₹60,000 | ₹2,04,000 |
| 3. 50% of salary (Bengaluru, from April 2026): 50% × ₹6,00,000 | ₹3,00,000 |
| Exempt HRA (the lowest) | ₹2,04,000 |
The remaining ₹96,000 of his HRA is taxable. Before April 2026, Bengaluru used 40% (₹2,40,000), which would not have changed his exemption here, because the rent rule was already the lowest. The higher limit helps people whose rent is high relative to their salary.
Common mistakes
- Claiming HRA in the new regime. It is not available there.
- Missing the landlord's PAN when rent is above ₹1,00,000 a year. The claim gets rejected.
- Receipts that do not match payments. If you pay ₹18,000 by UPI, do not submit receipts for ₹20,000.
- Paying a relative who does not declare the rent. Rent to parents is fine only if it is genuine and they show it as income.
- Forgetting the revenue stamp on cash receipts above ₹5,000.
Make a year of receipts for free
The rent receipt generator makes one receipt per month for the whole period you choose, as a print-ready PDF:
- Enter your name, the landlord's name, the address and the monthly rent.
- Choose the months and how you paid. Add the landlord's PAN if your rent is above ₹1,00,000 a year.
- Download the PDF, print it, and have your landlord sign each receipt (over a revenue stamp for cash).
It runs in your browser: nothing you type is uploaded. If you also need payslips, for a loan or a visa, the salary slip generator works the same way.
This is general information for salaried individuals, not tax advice. Rules can change; check with your employer's payroll or a tax adviser for your situation.