If you are repaying a housing loan, your ITR is where that EMI stops being just an outflow and starts working as a tax deduction. But the rules have shifted enough in recent years that a lot of borrowers either claim the wrong amount or, more often, claim nothing at all.

First, the basics of what year you are filing for. The return being filed now covers income earned in FY 2025-26, which is assessment year 2026-27. Although the new Income-tax Act, 2025 came into force on April 1, 2026, this year's return is still governed entirely by the old Income-tax Act, 1961 — the familiar section numbers still apply.

Old regime versus new regime — this decides everything

The single biggest question is which regime you are filing under, because it determines whether your home loan gives you anything at all.

Under the old regime, a borrower with a self-occupied house can claim up to ₹2 lakh a year on interest under Section 24(b), plus up to ₹1.5 lakh on principal repayment under Section 80C. Together that is ₹3.5 lakh knocked off taxable income.

Under the new regime, which is now the default, neither of those is available for a self-occupied property. Interest deduction is gone, principal deduction is gone. The one thing that survives is interest on a let-out property, which can be claimed in full with no cap — but only against the rental income from that property. Any resulting loss cannot be set off against your salary or carried forward.

That gap is precisely why many home loan borrowers still opt for the old regime despite its higher headline rates. Run both calculations before you file; for someone with a large loan, the difference in tax outgo can run into six figures.

Other deductions worth checking

Section 80C also covers stamp duty and registration charges paid in the year of purchase — within the same ₹1.5 lakh ceiling, which is usually already crowded with PF, insurance and ELSS.

Sections 80EE and 80EEA offer additional interest deduction of ₹50,000 and ₹1.5 lakh respectively for first-time buyers, but only for loans sanctioned within specific windows. Check your sanction letter date before assuming eligibility — this is the item people most commonly leave on the table.

Joint loans double the benefit. If husband and wife are both co-owners and co-borrowers, each can claim up to ₹2 lakh on interest and ₹1.5 lakh on principal independently, in proportion to their share.

Pre-construction interest on an under-construction property is not lost. It can be claimed in five equal instalments starting from the year possession is taken, within the overall ₹2 lakh limit.

Documents and process

Get the interest certificate from your lender — it splits the year's EMIs into interest and principal, and that split is what goes into the return. Keep the possession or completion certificate, the property registration papers, and the municipal tax receipts if the house is let out. Enter interest under the "Income from House Property" schedule and principal under the deductions section, then cross-check everything against your AIS and Form 26AS before submitting.

Two deadlines that matter

For salaried filers using ITR-1 or ITR-2, the due date is July 31, 2026; those filing ITR-3 or ITR-4 without an audit requirement have until August 31. As of now no extension has been notified, though the CBDT has extended deadlines in past years.

The more expensive detail is this: if you file after the due date, you cannot opt out of the new regime. The old regime — and with it your entire home loan deduction — has to be chosen on or before the original deadline. Filing late also means you lose the ability to carry forward house property losses.