Rules 2026s.134

Rule 65 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026

Rule 65 — Conditions for claim for deduction under section 134. Made under s.134 of the Income-tax Act, 2025.

Where this rule sits

Rule 65 gives effect to Section 134 of the Income-tax Act, 2025. A rule cannot go beyond the section it serves: where the two seem to differ, the section governs.

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What this rule does

For claiming the deduction under section 134 in respect of rent paid, the assessee shall file a declaration in Form No. 31.

Why it is there

Section 134 gives the deduction for rent paid but leaves the condition of claim to be prescribed. This rule makes the claim depend on a declaration in a set form, so the deduction rests on a stated position by the assessee rather than on a bare figure in the return.

Who it applies to

An assessee claiming a deduction under section 134 in respect of rent paid

The forms it prescribes

Form No. 31 — declaration by an assessee claiming deduction under section 134 in respect of rent paid

What this means in practice

The rule does not compute the deduction and does not set a rent threshold; the amount and entitlement are in section 134. What it adds is the condition of form: the declaration in Form No. 31 is what carries the claim, and a claim made without it lacks the thing the rule prescribes. The wording is mandatory — the assessee shall file the declaration — so it is not satisfied by producing rent receipts alone.

An example

Illustrative only, and invented for this page. The figures are chosen to show the requirement biting, not taken from any real matter.

An assessee who pays rent and is otherwise entitled under section 134 files the declaration in Form No. 31 for the tax year. Without it, the rule's condition for claiming the deduction is not met, whatever the rent receipts show.

Where you meet this rule

You meet it when the deduction for rent paid is claimed — in the return workings and in any query from the Assessing Officer asking for the declaration that supports the claim.

The words themselves

For the purposes of claiming deduction under section 134 in respect of rent paid, the assessee shall file declaration in Form No. 31.

Rule 65, Income-tax Rules, 2026.

What people get wrong

Claiming the deduction on receipts alone. The rule requires a declaration in Form No. 31.
Looking to this rule for the amount of the deduction. It prescribes only the form of the claim; section 134 governs entitlement and quantum.
Treating the declaration as optional because the return has a field for rent. The rule says the assessee shall file it.

What this page does not tell you. It does not reproduce the rule. Everything above was written from the rule’s own text as the Income Tax Department publishes it — the text is here. A rule is subordinate legislation: it prescribes the method, the form or the period, and it cannot enlarge the charge the section imposes. Where a figure matters, read the sub-rule it comes from.