Organizations in India follow different methods for arriving at the House Rent Allowance (HRA) exemption, while calculating income tax on employee salary. Each method produces a different exemption amount. This begs the question, “which is the correct method?” Payroll managers have different opinions on how the exemption should be calculated. Let us examine the methods used for the HRA exemption calculation, and see which method goes well with the letters and spirit of Section 10(13A) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

As per the Indian income tax law, the HRA exemption should be calculated as the least of the following.
1. Rent paid in excess of 10% of basic salary.
2. Actual HRA received by the employee. 
3. Forty percent of basic salary, if the location of the residence is in a non-metro city/town or 50% of basic salary, if the location of the residence is in a metro city
From the above “least of three” rule, it is clear that HRA exemption amount is determined by a number of factors — Basic pay, location of the residence, rent paid by the employee, and the HRA paid to the employee.

So far, so good. The “least of three” rule looks easy to understand and implement. However, the same rule can be applied in different ways to create different methods of HRA exemption calculation.