Section 80GG Deduction 2026: How to Claim Rent Paid Even Without HRA

By Nitish Bharadwaj · Published Jul 22, 2026 · 6 min

Section 80GG lets taxpayers without an HRA component — salaried employees whose employer doesn't pay HRA, and the self-employed — deduct rent paid from taxable income. The deduction is the lowest of three figures: ₹60,000 a year, rent paid minus 10% of total income, or 25% of total income. It requires filing Form 10BA declaring the rent and landlord details, and is available only under the old tax regime. Neither the taxpayer, spouse, nor minor child can own a house at the place of residence or work.

Almost every explainer on renting and taxes in India assumes you get HRA in your salary — but a large share of taxpayers never do. Freelancers and consultants have no salary structure at all. Many salaried employees, especially at startups and smaller firms, get a CTC with no HRA component built in. For all of them, the standard HRA exemption simply doesn't apply, and most quietly assume there's no tax relief on rent available to them at all. Section 80GG exists specifically to close that gap — but it comes with a lower cap, an extra form, and one regime restriction that catches people out.

Who Can Actually Claim Section 80GG

• Salaried employees whose salary structure does not include an HRA component
• Self-employed individuals, freelancers, and consultants who pay rent for their residence and have no HRA to claim in the first place
• Members of a Hindu Undivided Family (HUF), where the HUF itself does not own the residential property being rented

The one group explicitly excluded is anyone who does receive HRA as part of their salary — even if the HRA amount is negligible or the exemption works out to almost nothing, receiving any HRA at all disqualifies you from claiming 80GG for that year. You choose one or the other; there's no combining both in the same financial year.

The Three Conditions That Must All Hold

• You must actually be paying rent for a residential accommodation you occupy — not a commercial property, and not a house you own
• You must not have received any HRA from your employer during the year the claim is made
• Neither you, your spouse, your minor child, nor (if applicable) the HUF you're a member of may own a residential property at the place where you currently reside or carry out your employment/business — owning a house elsewhere, in a different city, doesn't disqualify you

How Much You Can Actually Deduct — the Lowest of Three Figures

Section 80GG doesn't simply exempt the rent you pay. The deduction is capped at the lowest of three separately computed figures, and in practice the third condition — 25% of total income — is what limits most claims, not the headline ₹60,000 figure people expect.

Form 10BA — Mandatory, and Frequently Skipped

Claiming Section 80GG requires filing Form 10BA, a self-declaration confirming the rent paid, the landlord's name and address, the period of tenancy, and a declaration that you don't own a disqualifying property. Without it on record, the deduction can be disallowed even if every other condition is genuinely met. If the annual rent paid crosses ₹1 lakh, you're also required to furnish the landlord's PAN — the same threshold that applies to HRA claims through an employer, so landlords who are reluctant to share their PAN can end up blocking a legitimate claim if the numbers cross that line. This claim is separate from any TDS you may owe as the tenant — if your rent crosses ₹50,000 a month, our Section 194IB TDS on rent guide covers that distinct compliance obligation, which applies alongside your 80GG claim, not instead of it.

Available Only Under the Old Tax Regime

Like Section 80C, 80D, and HRA itself, Section 80GG is a Chapter VI-A deduction and is not available under the new tax regime (Section 115BAC) — now the default unless you actively opt for the old regime while filing. If rent is a significant expense and you don't get HRA, this is a meaningful factor in the old vs new regime decision, alongside 80C, 80D, and home loan interest under Section 24. Run both scenarios before assuming the new regime's lower slab rates automatically win — losing a genuine ₹60,000 deduction can outweigh a modest rate advantage.

Self-employed taxpayers claiming 80GG should also check whether they fall under presumptive taxation or need to pay advance tax, since the rent deduction reduces taxable income before those calculations, not after. And when filing, the claim flows through the same ITR for FY 2025-26 as every other deduction — Form 10BA is filed separately, but the deduction itself is claimed in the return.