# Centre bars HRA claim when spouse gets government housing 2026-08-07T00:50:42+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet The Finance Ministry has clarified that a Central government employee cannot claim House Rent Allowance if their spouse has been allotted government accommodation at the same station. The rule applies even when both spouses are government employees. Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Choudhary gave the clarification in a written Rajya Sabha reply on 4 August. The ministry said HRA compensates employees who pay rent when official housing is unavailable. If either spouse receives government accommodation, the family is treated as housed and the other spouse is deemed not to incur rental expenses. The Centre said it has received no representations seeking a change and has no proposal to review the policy. The clarification does not change separate HRA tax rules under Section 10(13A). ## Coverage - businesstoday.in - livemint.com Tags: Central Government employees, government accommodation, HRA, Income tax Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/spouses-government-housing-blocks-hra-claim-finance-ministry-clarifies/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/spouses-government-housing-blocks-hra-claim-finance-ministry-clarifies/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.