^The House Rent Allowance (HRA) exemption is a valuable tax-saving tool for salaried individuals in India who reside in rented accommodations. However, to avail of this benefit, one must opt for the old tax regime. This exemption can lead to substantial savings on your taxable income, easing your financial burden. If the annual rent exceeds ₹1 lakh, the landlord's PAN must be submitted. 

Interestingly, even if your employer does not provide HRA, you can claim a deduction under specific circumstances. This article will provide an in-depth understanding of HRA exemption and its benefits for Indian employees.

HRA Exemption Calculation: Factors to Consider

The HRA exemption is determined by the lowest of the following three criteria:

• Actual HRA received: This is the actual amount you receive from your employer as a part of your salary package toward house rent.
• People living in metro cities (Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, or Chennai) receive 50% of their basic salary, whereas those living outside of metros receive 40%. Metro cities are considered more expensive in terms of living costs, which is why a higher percentage is allowed as an exemption for those residing in these cities.
• Actual rent paid minus 10% of basic salary: This criterion ensures that a certain portion of your rent paid is considered taxable income.

Use the HRA deduction calculator on the Income Tax Department's website to calculate your HRA deduction. By entering your basic salary, HRA received, and actual rent paid, you can determine the exemption amount and adjust it against your taxable income.

Required Documentation for HRA Tax Exemption Claims

To claim HRA exemption, you must submit certain documents to your employer, including rent receipts and rental agreements. These documents serve as proof of your rented accommodation and the amount paid as rent. If the annual rent exceeds ₹1 lakh, your landlord's PAN must also be provided. This helps the Income Tax Department track high-value transactions and ensure tax compliance.

Based on these proofs, employers will grant HRA exemption in Form 16. Form 16 is a certificate issued by your employer, providing a detailed summary of the salary paid and tax deducted at source (TDS) on your behalf.

Claiming Deduction without Employer-Provided HRA

Rent paid without HRA can still be deducted under Section 80GG of the Income Tax Act if you do not receive HRA from your employer. However, you must meet certain conditions:

• You must be self-employed or salaried and have not received HRA during the year you claim 80GG. This implies that if you receive HRA for part of the year, you can only claim the 80GG deduction for the remaining months.
• You, your spouse, or your minor child must not own residential accommodation in your current city of residence or employment. This condition prevents taxpayers from claiming a double benefit on both self-owned and rented properties.

In addition to the maximum deduction of 5,000 per month, Section 80GG also limits deductions to 25% of adjusted total income.

HRA Exemption for Individuals Living with Parents

You can also claim HRA if you reside in your parent's house. To do so, sign a rental agreement with your parents and transfer the rent to them monthly. Your parents must report this income on their tax returns. 

This can result in tax savings on the family income if their other income falls below the basic exemption limit or is taxed at a lower rate. Ensure to maintain proper documentation, such as rent receipts and bank statements showing rent transfers, to validate your claim.

Claiming Both HRA and Home Loan Interest Deductions

Even if you have a home loan, you can claim both HRA and home loan interest deductions if the houses are in the same city. To do this, you must demonstrate that the rented house and the house with the loan are at different locations. There must be valid reasons for not residing in your self-owned house, such as:

• Living in another city for work or other personal reasons.
• Proximity to your workplace or children's school makes residing in the rented house more practical.
• Your purchased home is under construction, requiring you to rent a temporary residence.
• Renting out your own house for additional income and living in a different rented property.

In such cases, you can claim deductions under Section 24(b) for home loan interest payments, up to ₹2 lahks per annum, and Section 80C for principal repayments, up to ₹1.5 lahks per annum.

It is important to note that such claims are frequently scrutinized by tax officials, who may reject part or all of the claim if dissatisfied, especially if the claimed amount is relatively high. To substantiate your claim, maintain proper documentation, including rental agreements, home loan certificates, and rent receipts.

Important Tips for Maximizing HRA Exemption Benefits

• Timely submission of rent receipts and rental agreements to your employer is crucial to ensure the seamless processing of your HRA exemption claim.
• Regularly review and update your rental agreement, especially if there is a change in rent amount or rental duration.
• Keep a record of rent payments made through bank transfers, as cash payments might not be considered valid proof by tax authorities.
• If you are claiming both HRA and home loan interest deductions, maintain separate documentation for each to avoid confusion during tax filing.

To sum this up, the HRA exemption can be a powerful tool for tax savings for salaried individuals in India. Understanding the various aspects of HRA exemption, including calculation, documentation, and eligibility, can help you make the most of this benefit and reduce your tax liability.

^We recently conducted a survey of the young to middle-aged urban population and found alarming rates of sleep deprivation. Only a quarter of the respondents were getting 8 hours of sleep, and the majority of them indicated waking up tired and needing more rest. 

Besides being essential to life and survival, sleeping affects our mind body soul. Counting sheep is not as simple as closing your eyes and closing your eyes.

Neuroscientists define sleep as a state of active unconsciousness, in which the brain is in a state of relative rest and is reacting primarily to internal stimuli. Simply put, it is a state where the body slows down in almost all departments, none more so than the brain.

Why do we sleep?

It may sound strange, but we still don't know exactly why humans and other animals sleep. A variety of theories are being proposed in current research, including the Inactivity theory, the Restoration theory, the Energy conservation theory, and the Brain plasticity theory. 

It has been found that muscles repair themselves, tissues grow, proteins are synthesised, and growth hormones are released predominantly during sleep. The body has decreased metabolism by up to 10% during sleep. During sleep, the brain's structure and function are reorganised and grown.

Stages of sleep

There are essentially four stages of sleep – 3 stages of Non-Rapid Eye Movement, Sleep, and Rapid Eye Movement. These stages typically occur in 90 to 120-minute cycles. The body ideally needs 3 to 4 such cycles for restful rebuilding.

How much Should we sleep?

Now, this is a tricky question. The importance of sleep in infants' and children's brain development explains why infants need to sleep upwards of 14 hours a day. Geriatric patients can swing from managing with 5 to 6 hours a day or needing nearly 12 hours of sleep as age advances.

A minimum of 6 to 8 hours of sleep is recommended for adults in order to maintain excellent emotional wellness. This includes a majority of it as interrupted night sleep with an optional power nap during the day; and no more than 9 to 10 hours of sleep.

"Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." - Benjamin Franklin

Problems associated with sleep deprivation

What we do know for sure is that chronic sleep deprivation has tremendous effects on mood, productivity, immunity, and metabolism. 

In addition to an increase in the frequency and severity of infections, chronic sleep deprivation has been linked to a number of other health problems, including depression, anxiety, obesity, diabetes, heart attacks, and strokes, as well as reduced fertility rates and mental disorders.

What is insomnia?

Photo by Sander Sammy on Unsplash

Insomnia is defined as difficulty falling or staying asleep accompanied by daytime impairments related to those sleep troubles.=

It can be of two types - chronic insomnia disorder and short-term insomnia.

Insomnia, whether short-term or chronic, has certain symptoms in common. There are different types of sleep issues associated with those symptoms, including those related to nighttime sleep when a person experiences at least one of those types of sleep issues:

• Sleeping problems
• Not able to lead happy healthy life.
• Not being able to stay asleep through the night
• Getting up too early in the morning
• Teenagers and children who resist sleeping at bedtime
• Children and teens who have difficulty sleeping on their own (without the assistance of a caregiver)

There are also several daytime symptoms related to sleeping problems that must be present as well:

• Tiredness
• Memory or attention problems
• Working, studying, or socially performing poorly
• Mood disturbances or irritability
• Feeling sleepy
• Hyperactivity or aggression are examples of behavioural issues
• Motivation has decreased
• Accidents or mistakes occurring more frequently
• Sleep concerns or dissatisfaction

For chronic insomnia to occur, symptoms must be present three times per week for a minimum of three months. Short-term insomnia is characterised by less frequent episodes and less than three months of symptoms.

Having difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep is not explicitly defined in the diagnostic criteria for insomnia. Adults may suffer from insomnia if they take longer than 30 minutes to fall asleep or are awake during the night for more than 30 minutes (20 minutes for children).

Causes

Recognising why you are not sleeping well is essential to treating the problem.

• Lack of opportunity to sleep or a disruptive sleep environment. Poor socioeconomic status, cramped living, small children, or dependents needing care.
• Medical disorders like Prostatomegaly or Diabetes causing frequent urination, OSA or sleep apnea, aches and pains, acid reflux disorder, thyroid disorder, etc
• Sleep procrastination syndrome - it's the only me time and free time you get. So you keep scrolling mindlessly through social media sites and videos and articles.
• Screen time: Most of our survey participants were on a screen minutes before sleep. Melatonin, an important sleep hormone, is regulated by the brightness of light falling on your retina. Gadget screens thus keep pushing the brain into an active state.
• Anxiety - generalised, work-related, social, emotional. We all live in overloaded, busy, and stressful times.
• Just not enough time due to work and travel.

All of us will be sleepless on some occasions or through certain phases of life. Recognise the issue and embark on a holistic approach toward solving it. Disciplined screen time, a more natural unwinding schedule, fixed waking hours, appropriate meals and meal times, and adequate exercise are some of the first steps we must take. 

Diagnosing and treating underlying medical disorders with a physician's help comes next. Then, if need be, some pharmacological support. Emotional, social, financial, and even generalised anxiety shouldn’t be ignored. 

An overwhelming majority of our respondents (primarily 25-40-year-olds) stated work and work-related anxieties as major obstacles to adequate sleep. Emotional anxieties were a close second. Therefore, workplace wellness programs are more than necessary to help employees. 

If only a fourth of our young, upwardly dynamic population are waking up naturally and feeling fresh, there is definitely something afoot that doesn’t augur well for the future. So pull up your eye masks and switch off the lights! Enough of hand sanitisers. It's time for some sleep hygiene.

Good luck and Good night!