Section 24 Income Tax Benefit of a Housing Loan

A house loan repayment has two components – principal and interest – and both of these components are treated differently for tax benefit calculation purposes.

The principal amount is covered under Section 80C and has a Rs. 1 lakh limit. In order to claim the tax benefit under 80C the house should already be constructed, and should be a residential property.

Tax Benefit of Home Loan Repayment
Tax Benefit of Home Loan Repayment

Section 24: Tax Benefit on the Interest On Home Loan

The interest on the home loan is treated differently, and Section 24 deals with the tax aspect of the interest on house loan repayment.

The maximum limit under this section is Rs. 1,50,000 and you don’t have to actually live in the house to claim this benefit.

The interest payment is deducted from your taxable income and thus reduces your tax liability. There is no limit on the number of houses you can claim this as well as the location of the houses. The only limit is Rs. 1,50,000 on the whole amount.

There are special conditions like when you get the loan disbursed before the construction of the house and pre – EMI interest and Raag has covered these aspects in a lot of detail in his post about tax benefits of a home loan which you can read if you were interested in those details.

Correction: An earlier version of the article stated that the 80C deduction is only available if you are living in the house. CA Karan Batra notified me that you don’t have to live in the house to claim deduction. Apologies for the mistake. 

512 thoughts on “Section 24 Income Tax Benefit of a Housing Loan”

  1. Sir,
    I am a lady .I have bought second home under housing loan .I it is not rented Iam paying EMI for both homes.How should I calculate the tax exemption regarding it

    1. Beula,

      If you have two house one will be treated as self occupied and the other as let out.On the self occupied house you will be able to claim upto Rs 1.5 lakh interest repayment and Rs 1 lakh for 80C. But on second house the exemption will be available for the entire interest repayment.
      Take the help of a qualified CA to do the calculations.

  2. sir please tell me that am i eligible to take income tax benefit if i have taken home loan to construct house but the plot is my father’s name only and he does not take any tax benefit and loan is given against my salary and repayment is done by me only.. please reply

    1. Rajendra,

      To avail the tax benefit on housing loan you need to have certain amount of ownership in the property. If its in your father’s name bank will give you the loan but income tax will not allow you to claim the tax benefit.

  3. dear sir,
    i have taken a flat in delhi through HUDCO loan and paying the EMI of 13480/- pm & Yearly interest component is Rs 90,000/-. This is being adjusted against my Gross income by misusing it. Now from 1-4-2013 i have rented out this flat at 12000/- pm .
    Further in April 2013 I have take a Housing loan from a bank & pm EMI is 40,000/- & Interest Component this year is Rs 400,000/-, through Developer Pre EMI Scheme. Developer is paying me an EMI of Rs 45,000/- pm for two year. This year they shall be paying Rs 5.5 Lakh approx
    Plz clarify
    1. My gross salary shall have deductions of my HUDCO Interest portion (Rs 90,000/-) + Deduction of 2nd Loan Interest component(Rs 4 Lakh) or not?
    2. whether the Pre EMI paid by developer i.e 45,000/- pm shall be added up in my Gross along with the Rent of my 1st Flat?
    Kindly help me and clarify urgently

  4. Section 24 deductions on interest of principal is always an icing on the cake for people who want additional deductions apart from sec 80c deductions

  5. Hi All,

    We (me & my wife) bought a flat as joint owners. The flat is registered on both our names. We took a loan from LIC Housing finance, my wife is the applicant and I am the co-applicant. The EMI is paid from my savings account (Not a joint account).

    Now what is the affect of this on income tax exemptions?

    As per section 24B of Income Tax , home loan interest is exempted from tax upto 1.5L. So are we both eligible for 1.5 lakhs each (i.e. combine total of 3L) or we both have to share the exemption to a maximum of 1.5L.

    I have searched in internet and found we are individually eligible for 1.5L exemption (total 3L).

    I would like to know what is correct. Any one here had similar experience if so what you did?

    In my company , the CA is not willing to accept this and saying a maximum exemption limit of 1.5L (we both have to share) is allowed and what I am reading in internet is mere opinions and not the actual law.

    Any opinion from you people will be appreciated.

    Thanks,
    Madhab

    1. Request you to change you CA immediately. The CA is wrong. If you are a joint owners and have paid 300000 as interest , both of you can claim 150000 each.
      I know cause I have claimed the same myself and have filed returns on those basis.

  6. Hello sir,

    I would like to claim interest paid for my home,
    1) could you please let me know which ITR form do I need to use ? ITR-1 or ITR-2.
    2) If I need to claim it in ITR-1, I see a row “Income from one House Property” (Cell D42), Do I need to enter -ve value here ?
    I have interest paid certificate from SBI do I need to send it along with ITR retrun form to Banglore office ?

    Thanks In Advance
    Pravin

  7. Dear Mansu,

    Your blog required some modification regarding the tax on interest part as below:-

    1) 1.5 lacks limit is applicable is house is self occupied and this can not be spread to multiple home loans since if you declare one that one property as self occupied, IT department will consider only one and you will not get ant tax benefit on other.
    2) There is not limit on interest for tax benefit on un-occupied property and it can be multiple properties also but only condition is property should be let out.

  8. Is it correct to claim Tax Rebate on Interest on Housing Loan when the construction of the House has not been completed and possession has not been handed over to the claimant?

  9. I along with my wife have taken Home Loan jointly more than 25,00,000/- only in the year 2011. At present we are occupying the flat. Both of our names are mentioned in the agreement. We have been paying the EMI in 50:50 ratio. Whether both of us are eligible for availing the income tax benefit of Rs.2,50,000/- each of us on interest as declared in the budget 2013.

  10. Hi,

    I have just bought a properties for 39 lac on a joint loan (loan amt 29 lac) with my husband. The said property is under construction and possession of the same would be around Nov/Dec 2013.
    The builder has a scheme of 20:80 which we have availed and the 80% loan would start after possession. I just need your clarification for IT benefit. This is my first property purchased however my husband has one flat already purchased before our marriage.. how can we claim IT benefit for the same… It’s a 50:50 loan. Can I take 1.5 l as interest and him unlimited?

    thank you

    1. I am going to purchase a residential plot on my wife name(house wife) and house also to be constructed by taking house loan on my name(Employee) from bank. So it is Ok or plot also purchase on my name only please inform me.

  11. i am having a joint housing loan with my brother. but the EMI is being fully paid by me and also my brother is not claiming any tax benefit of this housing loan , am i elligle for the full benefit? i no, what is the other option to avail maximum tax benefit. kindly help

    1. Similar query. However, in my case i am having joint housing loan with my father but the EMI is being fully paid by me. My father being a retired person is not claiming any tax benefit of this housing loan. Am i eligible for the full benefit ?? Also, is there any documentary proof i have to submit to Income Tax towards this for getting the full benefit ???

  12. Can I claim exemption under income tax rules even if the construction of the flat is not complete and possession thereof has not been handed over to me?

    1. Sukhwant,

      If the house is under construction you can claim only the interest repayment. But this can be claimed only when the construction gets completed and that too in 5 equal installments. However, these installments will fall within the limit of Rs 1.5 lakh Under section 24.

  13. I and my wife have taken up a home loan for an apartment where we are residing right now. The house is in our name 50% each. So we are eligible for IT rebate. I am inquiring about the interest part of the home loan paid till now. The total interest paid is INR 58799 for the last fiscal year. So, both of us are eligible for rebate of INR 29399.5 0 each. Correct?
    It says that it can be availed under Section 24 (b). I file my own returns using the income tax department’s website. The excel sheet which I have download from their website does not have Section 24(b) listed. Where should I put this deduction? Please advice. Thanks.

    1. We have availed one housing loan in 4 names. May we avail rebate under sec 24(b) of income tax act

  14. Dear Si,

    My question for House Loan (Under Construction) principle & Interest (eligible amount or no limit) taken in Tax calculation of Income from Salary & HRA allowance is eligible or not please inform me..

  15. Hi,
    My father and I have taken a joint home loan for a completed property. This is my first house purchase and my fathers second. My parents are going to occupy this house and my father’s first house will be put on rent. I live in a different city. Please let us know the maximum that we (my father and me separately) will be able to avail under HRA, 80c and 24. And if there are any other implications.
    Thanks,
    Vivek

  16. Hi,

    if the repayment of housing loan has been done by you only, in that case you can claim the whole benefit u/s 24, however you need to produce the proofs for payment has been made by you, and a declaration from joint owner that payment has been made by you, hence she is not claim any benefit for housing loan.

    Thanks

  17. I have a home loan from joint SBI savings account for a joint owner flat. The jointly means myself & my wife. She is a house wife.Now my queries is that what benefit I will get under section 24? Is it total benefit or half of the total interest paid.

  18. sir
    salary is rs 750000
    housing loan principal rs 25000 pm it is benifical for salary calculation
    mediclaim rs 8000
    housing loan interest rs 10000 pm it is benificial for salary tds calculation
    pl.reply

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