Tax Benefits on Home Loan for Joint Owners

Tax benefits on a joint home loan can be availed by all the joint owners, provided certain conditions are met. Let’s take a look.
Tax benefits on a joint home loan are available to all the joint owners. It’s pertinent to note that ‘ownership’ of the property is a prerequisite to availing any tax benefits against the property. You may have taken the loan jointly, but unless you are an owner of the property – you may not be entitled to the tax benefits. 

There have been situations where the property is owned by a parent, and the parent & child together take up a loan which is paid off only by the child. In such a case, the child, who is not a co-owner, is devoid of the tax benefits on the home loan. 

Conditions to Claim the Tax Benefit on the Property

• You must be a co-owner of the property– To be able to claim tax benefits for a home loan, you must be an owner of the property. Many a time, a loan is taken jointly, but the borrower is not an owner as per the property documents. In such a case, you may not be able to claim tax benefits.
• You must be a co-borrower for the loan –Besides being an owner, you must also be an applicant as per the loan documents. Owners who are not borrowers and do not contribute to the EMI shall be devoid of the tax benefits.
• The construction of the property must be complete – Tax benefits on a house property can only be claimed, starting the financial year in which construction of the property is complete. Tax benefits are not available for an under-construction property. However, any Interest prior to completion is claimed in five equal instalments starting the year in which construction is complete.

What are the Tax Benefits?

• For a self-occupied property – Each co-owner, who is also a co-applicant in the loan, can claim a maximum deduction of Rs 2,00,000 for interest on the home loan in their Income Tax Return. The total interest paid on the loan is allocated to the owners in the ratio of their ownership. Goes without saying, that the total interest claimed by the owners/borrowers cannot exceed the total interest paid for the loan. 

For example, Let’s understand Rahul and his father bought a house on loan and paid Rs 4,50,000 in interest. They have a 50:50 share in the property. Rahul can claim Rs 2,00,000 in his tax return, his father can also claim Rs 2,00,000.

• For a rented property – In the 2017 budget, there is no limit on interest that can be claimed as a deduction in case of rented property, However for set off of losses against other heads of income, is restricted to Rs. 2 lakhs.

For example, if the rental income is Rs. 600,000, Interest on the housing loan is Rs 12,00,000, and Salary income is Rs 15,00,000. Total Income will be as follows

• Each co-owner can claim a deduction of a maximum of Rs 1,50,000 towards the repayment of principal under section 80C. This is within the overall limit of Rs 1,50,000 of Section 80C.

Therefore, as a family, you will be able to take a larger tax benefit against the interest paid on the home loan when the property is jointly owned and your interest outgo is more than Rs 2,00,000 per annum. 

There may be a situation where you are paying the entire loan instalment, and the co-borrower is not contributing any payments. In such a case, you may claim the entire interest as a deduction in your Income Tax Return. 

Things to Know About Tax Benefits on Home Loans for Joint Owners

• The tax deduction fraction is determined by the loan’s ownership proportion.
• Each joint owner of the home loan can claim the maximum tax refund, i.e. Rs. 2,00,000, for interest on the home loan.
• The loan must be taken in the names of two people to claim tax benefits as joint owners on the home loan.
• Each individual’s share of the joint loan ownership should be written in percentages for the co-owners.

Deemed Ownership

Section 27 of the Income-tax Act explains the scenario of Deemed ownership. When an Individual transfer his property for other than adequate consideration 

1. to his or her Spouse.
2. to a minor child (not being a married daughter).

The person transferring such property will be deemed to be the full owner of the property as per the Act.

Example: Husband (who is a salaried individual) buys house property in Joint name with his wife (who is a Homemaker). The husband is the sole earner, and he pays the entire consideration for such acquisition. Now he lets out such property for rent. Now the question is, since the wife is also 50% owner of the property, can 50% of such rental income be shown in the wife's income tax return? Since the wife has no taxable income, this helps in paying no taxes on such 50% rental income. In such cases, income tax deems that the entire property belongs to the husband and rental income needs to be declared in his ITR only since the entire consideration for such purchase of the property was paid by the husband.

Can there Be a Change in the Ratio of Tax Benefits on Home Loans for Joint Owners?

Both individuals need to be co-owners of the property to avail of tax benefits. The joint owners can claim a tax rebate on their proportion of shares. It means that a joint owner can consider his/her spouse’s repayment capacity when planning the share of a home loan.

Thus, even if joint owners are equal, but their loan share is 60:40, the tax benefits will also be shared in the same ratio. If this ratio is changed to 70:30, even tax benefits will change accordingly. 

Stamp duty and registration charges of a property can also be claimed by the joint owners. 

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