Rent receipt for office HRA, what to write

My cousin Manoj work in a bank in Sikar. Not a big officer. Clerk type job.

In May 2023 his office said, bring rent receipt for HRA, otherwise they will cut.

He stay in a small house near Station Road. Landlord is our distant uncle. Very old school.

Uncle said I already took rent in cash, what receipt. I am not a company.

Manoj called me in Jaipur at night. He was panicking. April May receipts both missing.

I am a mobile shop man. I don't give tax class. I only know office people love a paper with month and amount.

I told him, we make a simple rent receipt. Not a GST invoice. Rent is not my phone bill.

Rent receipt for office HRA, what actually happened

Uncle rent is eight thousand five hundred a month. No extra maintenance. Water included, electricity extra.

Manoj already paid April and May. Uncle remember because he keep a wall calendar and tick.

I opened rent receipt on BillOnDesk on my phone, sitting on my shop stool after closing.

Fields were simple. Month. Amount. Landlord. Tenant. Address.

I put landlord name as uncle's actual name, not Uncle-ji.

Tenant as Manoj full name same as Aadhaar, because bank HR match that.

Address of the house, not the bank.

Amount 8500. I wrote rupees eight thousand five hundred only in my head, then the page also had amount.

I told Manoj, print two, one for office, one for uncle if he want.

Uncle don't want. He said keep.

Next day Manoj WhatsApp me. HR said put PAN of landlord if rent is high.

8500 monthly is not that huge, but bank people have their list.

Uncle has PAN. He was scared to share. I said it is for HRA, not for selling his house.

We made second receipt. Same rent receipt page. PAN in the note line we typed.

I am not a CA. I don't know every HRA rule for every city.

I told Manoj, ask your office HR once. If they have their own format, use that.

This draft is only so uncle don't write on a torn page from a school notebook.

His first attempt was actually a page from Manoj's old coaching notes. Quadratic equation on the back.

HR would have laughed and rejected.

June 2024 Manoj called again. New financial year. Same story. Uncle still don't keep printed receipts.

We sat one Sunday and made April May June together. Three papers. Three months. Don't put three months on one receipt if office want month wise.

Some offices want one paper per month. Some accept a statement. Bank wanted month wise.

I learned that the hard way. First I made one receipt saying April to June 25500.

HR said split. I split.

What to write, if you are the tenant like Manoj.

Write the month clearly. April 2023. Not just April. Year matter.

Write the house address. Write landlord name. Write your name.

Write amount in number. If the page has words, check they match.

Write cash or bank transfer. Manoj pay cash. I wrote cash.

Later he started UPI to uncle's number. Then we wrote UPI and the date.

Office like when mode is there. They compare with bank statement sometimes.

Don't write extra rent that you didn't pay. Manoj's friend in Jaipur did that. Wrote 15000 when he pay 9000. He thought more HRA.

I don't know what happened in his tax. I told Manoj don't copy that friend.

How I write the rent receipt now

Wrong receipt is not a small trick. It can come back.

Uncle also should not sign a blank receipt. I saw that in Bikaner. A tenant took blank signed papers. Later fight.

We print complete, then uncle sign with a cheap ball pen. Blue ink. Date.

Revenue stamp. People ask me. I am not a post office.

Some HR still love a small stamp. Some don't care for 8500.

I told Manoj, if HR insist, put stamp. If they don't, don't run around.

I never tell anyone to fake a stamp or a government mark. Same as I don't fake GST hologram on my shop bills.

This is a landlord tenant paper. Draft from a website. BillOnDesk is not GSTN and also not income tax department.

File tax on official portal. HRA proof is between employee, employer, and their CA.

I only helped my cousin type.

One more thing. Don't put GST on rent receipt just because you saw GST on my phone invoice.

Manoj almost asked me to add 18 percent. I said no. This is not that.

If some commercial rent has GST, that is a different world, shop on rent, CA will say.

His is a small house. Keep it simple.

In Udaipur a hotel staff girl messaged me, because she saw my cousin's post in family group.

She pay 12,000. Landlord in Walled City. Landlord can sign only in Hindi.

English receipt with Hindi signature is okay in many offices. I told her don't panic.

Write names in English as per ID. Signature can be the same scribble he always do.

She used the same rent page. Her HR passed it.

I felt like a part time form filler. My real work is cracked screens.

Still, HRA season every year, family will call.

I keep a note in my phone now. What fields HR usually want.

Month and year. Names. Amount. Address. Signature. That is the list I actually remember.

If deposit is separate, don't mix. Manoj gave 17,000 deposit in 2022. That is not monthly rent. Don't put it on May receipt.

If you leave the house, last month receipt should be last month, not a goodbye letter.

If two people share rent, ask HR how they want names. Manoj lives alone. Easy.

If landlord is NRI uncle in London, that is not my story. I send them to CA.

My story is Station Road Sikar, old uncle, 8500, bank clerk cousin.

The paper is not fancy. No border of flowers. No Ashoka. No hologram.

Just a receipt that say money for this month for this house went from this person to that person.

When Manoj got his salary without HRA cut, he brought me sweets. Ghewar, little late for season, still good.

I told him next year don't wait for HR reminder.

Make April receipt in first week of May. Keep PDF in email.

Phone get lost. WhatsApp chat disappear. Email stay.

Uncle still tick the wall calendar. That is his software.

We don't fight with uncle's system. We only add a print so the bank computer is happy.

If your landlord is like uncle, sit with him one evening. Fill rent receipt, print, sign, tea.

Don't write novel on the receipt. Don't write family history.

Month, rent, names. That is enough for most offices I have seen from Rajasthan towns.

And if HR send a PDF of their own, fill that. Our draft is a backup, not a law.

I am not the government. BillOnDesk is not the government.

We only stop quadratic equation from going to the bank HR.