One way to avail tax benefits through house rent allowance (HRA) is to enter into a rent agreement with your wife. However, this arrangement needs to be made carefully to ensure the taxman doesn’t deny you the claim.
To begin with, let’s look at a recent decision given by the Delhi Tribunal in February in the case of Abhay Kumar Mittal vs. deputy commissioner of Income-Tax (I-T) wherein it was held that if the rent is paid to the wife and her income resources, including the rent income, are proved in the income tax return (ITR), then the benefit of HRA cannot be denied to a husband.
