Income tax: Home loan benefits when two houses are self-occupied

There is no restriction on the number of houses a person can own under the provisions of the Income Tax Act. Likewise, there is no restriction on the number of houses a person can avail of the tax benefits for a home loan. A person can have a maximum of two self-owned properties as self-occupied. So you can show both the houses as self-occupied.

Whether one occupies one house or two houses, he can claim interest only up to ₹2 lakh in aggregate under Section 24(b) for both houses taken together under Section 24(b). One can avail of the benefit of repayment of principal amount up to ₹1.50 lakh for any number of houses, whether self-occupied or let out, along with other eligible items under Section 80C.

Regarding the claim for stamp duty and registration charges for the second house, there is no restriction on the number of houses for which you can claim this deduction under Section 80C as long as you satisfy the relevant conditions. Since you have already taken possession of the second house and since it is a residential house, you can claim the deduction for stamp duty and registration charges for the assessment year 2024-2025 relevant to the financial year 2023-2024. Please note that it does not matter that you had claimed a similar deduction for another property in another year.

Please note that the deduction under Section 80C and 24(b) is unavailable for self-occupied house properties under the new tax regime.

Balwant Jain is a tax and investment expert and can be reached at jainbalwant@gmail.com and on @jainbalwant on Twitter.

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Published: 04 May 2024, 01:45 PM IST