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. Dear Sir,

    I have already one flat bought though loan in 2003 onwards and i repaid all instalments and loan completed. Presently i am staying in that Flat.

    I am planned to purchase another one flat by loan in another city (Chennai) which is in construction phase. The Flat expected possession shall be in April 2014. Shall i get IT rebate for the EMI payment. How it can be claimed? What shall be limit for that?

    Kindly Reply.

    Thanks in Advance.

    Ganesan

    1. Ganesan,

      Any repayment of loan interest during construction period can be claimed after the completion in 5 equal installment in 5 years.However, the interest claimed is well within limit of Rs 1.5 lakh.You do not get any claim for principal repayment during construction period.

  2. Dear Sir,
    i have to purchased a well build house at my village whose cost is near to 300000 (3 Lakh Rupees)
    if i taken a loan of 3 lakh to purchase this property then can I able to get ITR (principle 1 L + interest -1.5 L)total 2.5 L tax exemptions
    As house is ready with construction.

  3. i have taken a loan of rs 34lacs for purchasing a under construction flat which has been booked in joint ownership of my father and wife.can i claim tax benefit

  4. sir,
    my husband and myself applied for home loan for 1200000/- and repaying monthly 14600/- as the total of principal and interest amount.
    my husband is paying the repayment instalments fully through his saving a/c only.
    can he claim the tax benefit fully as i am not a tax payer?
    total how much he can get tax rebate?

  5. hi,
    I have constructed a house. started living in.
    The loan amount is 150000/-
    Can i claim both Housing Loan repayment of Principal of 1 L and Interest 1.5L (total of 2.5L) tax exemption.

    Regards
    Arun

  6. Hello,
    My husband and myself has taken a joint Home loan and home is also both are owner of home. We want to claim 50-50% tax benefit. but our office is demanding certificate from bank stating share of each borrower.Bank is not ready to furnish the same. Is it written somewhere in official website of income tax about this rule of tax benefit so that we can show it to our office??

    1. Snehal,

      In a joint loan you need to specify the ownership in the property documents itself.It becomes much easier to claim.The reason why office is asking this is that in a joint loan the tax benefit is claimed in ratio of ownership and not loan.

        1. Snehal,

          A clerification.

          The tax benefit is claimed in ratio of the joint loan.This should be specified by the bank in the documents.Generally you should while taking the loan insist on the institution to add this details in loan documents.

          Details about claim in joint loan is available on income tax website.

  7. I have obtained two different housing loan for purchase and construction on my allowted residential plot in Noida as detail given below :

    Bank Loan Amount Remakrs
    HFDC, Noida Rs. 3 Lakh Loan was taken for purchase of land from June,
    2002 to June, 2010. paid compenent as follows:
    Principal Compenent : Rs.2,45,107/-
    Interest Compenent : Rs. 1,60,129/-

    State Bank of India, New Delhi Rs. 20 Lakh For Construction on my said residential
    plot from Sept. , 2010 onward for 20 years.
    Interest has been paid to Bank till date :
    Principal Compenent : Rs. 94,570/-
    Interest Compenent : Rs. 2,37,480/-

    The construction work has been completed in June, 2011 and I am living in said constructioed home.
    Sofar I have not claimed any tax benefit on the repayment of above loans.
    You are requeted to please guide me how I can avail the Tax benefit on my earlier loan inetrest and ongoing current loan. Which type of documents are required to submit for claim.
    Please reply
    thanks
    Daljit Singh

  8. I have 2 home loans out of which, 1 would get fully repaid by end of the next month. I live in the same home.

    If I decide to buy third house, by taking a fresh home loan – I will have 1 self occupied property which does not have any home loan on it AND 2 rented properties with home loans on each of them.

    How does the taxation happen in this case? Do I get the benefit for (Rent – Corporation Tax – 30% deduction for maintenance – total interest ) for both these properties while computing tax?

    And would I be liable to pay the wealth tax on it? If so, how it would be computed?

  9. Sir, I have a housing loan for a housing plot (i havent started the construction yet) hence staying in a rented house, can i claim HRA and loan (principal & interest). Please guide.

  10. Hi,
    One query regarding tax benefit on housing loan under 80c and interest payment.
    I have taken home loan on my name and I am paying the EMI of 25000/month for a house but I have made my mother(house wife no source of income) as owner of the property. Tax certificate has both our name but legally she is the owner. Can I take tax benefit under 80c and for interest payment.

      1. Hi Jit,

        Suppose If I have taken house on my spouse name and she is not working. In that case can i avail tax?

        1. There is a provision in income tax for claiming tax benefit in case of spouse as owner.But do consult a CA for clerification on this as most IT officers do not allow it if it is done only for tax benefit purpose.

    1. Sunil,

      You can avail of tax benefits on the interest component of the pre-EMI only after the construction is completed. But that doesn’t mean you will not get tax benefits on pre-EMIs at all. Once the construction is completed, you can show the pre-EMI interest payment in five equal instalments in subsequent years. For example, if the pre-EMI payments aggregate to Rs 5,00,000, then Rs 1,00,000 each can be shown over a period of five years for tax benefits.

      However, you cannot claim any tax exemption on the principal amount, if any paid, in this period

      1. With regards to your example, is this Rs. 1,00,000 apart from the Rs. 1,50,000 that I am can claim for each of those 5 years? In other words, will I get Rs. 2,50,000 exemption for the first five years?

  11. Interest on housing loan to be shown under which head in ITR I while efiling? If I show under head “Income from house property”, should i show up the amount in negative like (-150000)? Please confirm…

  12. Dear Sir,
    Kindly reply to my folloing queries.
    I am staying in house property owned in my name which i have let out to my company and getting self-lease every month. For this property balance loan amount was paid in Jan 2012. The same is free from any loan. Recently i have purchased another ready built flat with my spouse as joint owner. which shall be let out on rent. The approx yearly interest component paid on home loan is 4.5 lakh. Can you please confirm the following.
    1. Wherther 1.5lakh limit is still applicable for both of us or total yearly interest(4.5lakh) shall be divided b/w us in proportion of ownership.
    2. Income/loss from house property shall be calculated considering both properties.
    3. Please provide any ready-calculation/ article for calculating house income.

    regards,
    sumit mishra

  13. Hi ,
    we are planning to take a flat, we will get its possession after 4 yrs . its cost is 32 lakh. we are planning to take home loan for that . as Banks provide home loan upto 80 % only . i just want to know that how house loan can give me benefit for my Tax rebate.

  14. Hi,

    I am a co-borrower with my dad, on a home loan taken from HDFC on Nov 2011. we have started paying the installments, however my dad is paying the monthly installments. The flat is under construction in Allahabad (at my hometown), and I work in Delhi. The property would be ready for the possession by end of the yaear.

    Can you please explain me, what amount can I claim for the tax purposes for this assement year ? would be great if you could also explain what can be claimed by my father.

    Thanks in advance.

    regards,
    Abhash

    1. Abhash,
      Claim of tax benefits depends on the ownership in property.You both can claim interest deduction in the ratio of ownership.if its 50% then you can claim 50% of the total interest amount as deduction.However, do not that any interest payment during pre-construction period can be claimed only after completion of property.

  15. interest on housing loan to be shown under which head in ITR I while efiling?

    Also how does the income tax department verifies the information submitted in e filing of ITR I?
    is there any need of attaching form no 16?

      1. Jitendra: If I show under head “Income from house property”, should i show up the amount in negative like (-150000)? Please confirm… Thanks !!

  16. During the Form C…i mistake and declared wrong amount in the Form C..and accordingly Form 16 prepared..

    So i want to know what is care taken during the Income Tax Return….

    Regards,
    KC

  17. Hi, Can i claim HRA as well as Int on Housing loan uner Sec 24 and Principal under 80 C if i am not staying in the constructed house. But i am staying in a rented house that is close to my office.Both the houses are in the same city.. but because i want to stay near to my office i have let out my constructed/purchased flat and staying near by to office for rent. Please suggest me the solution. I have a ready a case study where this kind was allowed.

    clarification awaited….

  18. Hello,
    I have taken home loan of 915000 and want to avail tax benefit, what are the documents which i need to submit for availing the benefit. I mean do i need to collect bills from the bank to which i am paying the EMI.

    Thanks,
    Sampath Kumar

    1. Sampath,

      You get a provisional certificate at start of financila year and actual certificate at end of the year from the bank to claim Tax Benefit.This certificate gives breakup of principal and interest.If you haven’t received ask from the bank.

  19. I have taken residential land purchase loan in July 2011 and started construction on the same in April 2012. Can I calim rebate for interest & principal repayment on resident land purchased ? Please guide me for the same.
    Thanks

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