Form 10BA: Section 80GG Deduction, Eligibility, and Filing Steps

Form 10BA is an online declaration you submit on the Income Tax e-filing portal to claim a rent deduction under Section 80GG of the Income Tax Act, 1961. If you pay rent for your home but receive no House Rent Allowance, filing this form lets you reduce your taxable income by up to ₹60,000 per year. It is open to both salaried and self-employed individuals, works only under the old tax regime, and must be filed before you submit your income tax return for the same assessment year.

Who Qualifies for the Section 80GG Deduction

Section 80GG is meant for people who pay rent but have no HRA component in their salary, and for self-employed individuals who never receive HRA at all. Both resident and non-resident individuals can claim it. Hindu Undivided Families, companies, and other entities cannot.¹

Beyond lacking HRA, you must satisfy each of these conditions:

You, your spouse, your minor child, or any HUF you belong to must not own residential property in the city where you work or ordinarily live.
You cannot own a home elsewhere and treat it as self-occupied (annual value taken as nil) while also claiming this deduction.
You must not have claimed HRA exemption under Section 10(13A) from any employer at any point during the financial year. It is one or the other, never both.

These conditions are strict. If property at your work location is held by your spouse or minor child alone, the deduction is off the table.¹

The Old Regime Requirement

Section 80GG is not available under the new tax regime introduced under Section 115BAC. The new regime offers lower slab rates but strips away most deductions and exemptions, including this one. If you have opted for the new regime, you cannot claim the deduction regardless of how much rent you pay. You would need to be on the old regime for the relevant assessment year to use Form 10BA.

How Much You Can Deduct

The deduction is not the rent you paid. Section 80GG requires you to compute three figures and take the lowest:¹

₹5,000 per month, which caps the annual deduction at ₹60,000 whatever the rent.
25% of your adjusted total income for the year.
Rent paid during the year minus 10% of adjusted total income.

Adjusted total income here means gross total income reduced by long-term capital gains, short-term capital gains taxed under Section 111A, all Chapter VI-A deductions from Section 80C through 80U except 80GG itself, and income taxed at special rates for non-residents under Sections 115A through 115AD.

As an example, if your adjusted total income is ₹4,00,000 and you pay ₹8,000 per month in rent (₹96,000 annually), the three figures are ₹60,000, ₹1,00,000, and ₹56,000. Your deduction is ₹56,000.

Information to Gather Before You File

Have these ready before you start, since the form is not friendly to partial saves:

The complete postal address of the rented property, including area, city, and district.
The number of months you occupied the property during the financial year.
Total rent paid for the year. Enter base rent only, not security deposits or maintenance charges.
Full name and address of your landlord.
Your landlord’s PAN, which is mandatory if annual rent exceeds ₹1,00,000. If the landlord has no PAN, a written declaration from the landlord is required instead.
Your PAN and password for the Income Tax e-filing portal.

The PAN threshold catches many filers off guard. At ₹9,000 or more per month, annual rent crosses ₹1,00,000, so ask your landlord for the PAN early rather than at filing time.

How to File Form 10BA on the Portal

Filing happens entirely at incometax.gov.in.

Log in with your PAN and password.
From the dashboard, go to e-File, then Income Tax Forms, then File Income Tax Forms.
Search for Form 10BA and click File Now.
Select the correct assessment year. For income earned in FY 2025-26, that is AY 2026-27.
Review the document checklist, then enter your rental details, landlord information, and the declaration confirming you meet the ownership conditions.
Preview your entries and save the form.
E-verify using Aadhaar OTP, Digital Signature Certificate, or Electronic Verification Code.

Once verification completes, the portal generates an acknowledgment number. Save it. This is your proof of filing if the department raises questions later. If submission fails, delete any saved draft of the form, log out and back in, and try again.²

When to File

Form 10BA must be filed before you submit your income tax return for the same assessment year. You cannot file the ITR first and then submit Form 10BA. The portal will not allow the Section 80GG deduction without an accepted Form 10BA already on record. For most individual taxpayers not subject to audit, the effective deadline aligns with the ITR due date of July 31. If your accounts require auditing, the deadline extends to September 30. Filing Form 10BA well ahead of the ITR deadline also avoids last-minute portal congestion.

What Happens If You Claim Section 80GG Incorrectly

A wrongly claimed deduction is treated as under-reporting or misreporting of income under Section 270A. If the tax department finds you claimed Section 80GG while owning property in your work city or while receiving HRA, the disallowed amount is added back to your taxable income. A penalty of 50% of the additional tax owed can apply for genuine mistakes. Where the department concludes the misrepresentation was deliberate, the penalty rises to 200% of the tax on the misreported amount. You would also owe the additional tax plus interest from the original due date.

The mistakes that most often lead to scrutiny are claiming the deduction while a spouse owns property in the same city, forgetting that HRA was received for part of the year before a job change, and filing under the new tax regime where the deduction simply does not exist. Checking your Form 16 and salary slips for any HRA component before you file Form 10BA takes only a few minutes and can save you from a costly reassessment.¹

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Income Tax Department. Deductions
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Income Tax Department. FAQs