In India, each co-borrower who wants to claim a home-loan tax deduction should assemble the lender’s year-specific interest certificate or repayment statement, the loan sanction and account details, proof of ownership and ownership share, and records supporting the amount that person actually paid. A joint loan or a name on the loan does not by itself create an automatic right to claim. Interest and principal are separate claims, governed mainly by sections 24(b) and 80C of the Income-tax Act, and each person’s eligibility must be checked against the property, loan purpose, tax regime and assessment year.
Documents every co-borrower should assemble
1. Annual or provisional interest certificate from the lender
Ask the bank or housing-finance lender for an annual, year-wise or provisional home-loan interest certificate. It should identify the loan and borrower and show the interest paid or payable for the relevant financial year. Section 24(b) covers qualifying interest on capital borrowed for acquisition, construction, repair, renewal or reconstruction of a property. For the statutory circumstance covered by its second proviso, the taxpayer must furnish a certificate from the person to whom the interest is payable specifying the interest amount. Read the current statutory text at section 24 of the Income-tax Act.
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The Income Tax Department’s return guidance also expects core loan particulars, including the lender’s name, loan account number, sanction date, total amount borrowed, year-end outstanding balance and interest amount. Check that these details agree with your loan records before entering a claim.
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2. Principal-repayment certificate or repayment schedule
Obtain a statement that separates principal repaid from interest. A normal bank statement may show instalments but not always the split needed for a tax return. Section 80C includes qualifying repayment of borrowed principal for residential property among eligible payments, subject to statutory conditions and the applicable regime. The department describes housing-loan principal as an eligible payment in its guidance on section 80C.
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Keep the lender’s year-wise repayment schedule, certificate or account statement showing the principal amount for the exact year being claimed. Do not use the total EMI as either the interest figure or the principal figure.
3. Sanction letter and loan-account details
Retain the sanction letter and the latest loan-account statement. Record the lender, account number, sanction date, amount borrowed, stated purpose and closing balance at the end of the financial year. These details help reconcile the certificate and are specifically reflected in the department’s return guidance for interest claims.
4. Registered ownership documents and each person’s share
Keep the registered conveyance deed, sale deed, title document or another valid ownership record that names the co-owners and states their shares. The ownership document is important because co-borrower status and co-owner status are not identical. The Income Tax Department explains that where co-owners’ shares in a property are definite and ascertainable, income from the house property is assessed separately in each co-owner’s hands. See its guidance on house-property income and co-owners.
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The reviewed official guidance does not prescribe one universal formula for dividing every co-borrower’s interest or principal deduction. Do not assume that two borrowers must each claim 50 percent, or that every borrower may claim the entire amount.
5. Evidence supporting each person’s payments
Preserve bank statements, repayment-account records and other payment evidence showing what each person contributed toward the loan. This is prudent substantiation when the borrowers’ contributions differ, although the official material does not say that bank statements alone determine tax entitlement. Use payment records together with ownership, lender and loan documents rather than treating them as a substitute for those records.
6. Possession, completion and construction records where relevant
Keep the possession letter, completion certificate, construction-stage records and documents showing the property’s acquisition or construction date when those facts affect the claim. Section 24 addresses borrowed capital used for acquisition or construction and contains rules for interest relating to the period before acquisition or completion. Preserve the loan’s stated purpose and relevant dates if you are dealing with pre-construction interest, a self-occupied property that is not yet complete, or a repair or reconstruction loan.
Which document supports which deduction?
| Claim | Main provision | Evidence to retain | Important qualification |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interest on qualifying borrowed capital | Section 24(b) | Lender interest certificate or annual statement; sanction and account details; property-purpose and completion records where relevant | Eligibility depends on the property’s use, loan purpose, applicable conditions and tax regime. The certificate requirement in the second proviso applies to the statutory circumstance described there. |
| Principal repaid on a qualifying residential-property loan | Section 80C | Lender statement or schedule separating principal from interest | Subject to section 80C conditions, the applicable regime and the combined limit with other section 80C payments. |
| Allocation between co-borrowers | No single automatic split stated in the reviewed guidance | Ownership deed showing definite shares, lender records and payment evidence for each claimant | Each individual must establish their own facts. A joint loan alone does not prove entitlement or an equal allocation. |
For the assessment-year context shown in the department’s AY 2026–27 salaried-individual guidance, the combined section 80C limit is ₹1,50,000. That ceiling includes other section 80C-eligible payments; it is not a separate ₹1,50,000 allowance created for each home-loan borrower and should not be treated as a permanent figure for every year.
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Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteThe same AY 2026–27 guidance shows a ₹2,00,000 self-occupied-property interest limit under the old-regime table, subject to the listed conditions and applicable law. Treat both figures as assessment-year-specific illustrations of the department’s guidance, not universal limits.
How the tax regime and property use change the answer
Old versus new regime
The tax regime must be identified before deciding which documents will support a claim. The department’s AY 2026–27 material describes the new regime as the default and states that interest on borrowed capital for a self-occupied property is not allowed under that regime. Its old-regime guidance lists section 24(b) interest and section 80C housing-loan principal, subject to requirements and limits. Review the current-year rules in the department’s AY 2026–27 regime guidance and official salaried-individual guidance.
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Do not generalise the self-occupied restriction to every property or every type of interest. The department discusses let-out property separately, and the applicable treatment depends on the property status and the law for the relevant assessment year.
Self-occupied property
For a self-occupied home, verify the old- or new-regime treatment before claiming interest. The lender certificate remains useful evidence, but possessing it does not overcome a regime restriction. Keep possession or completion records if the property was acquired or constructed during the year.
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Let-out property follows different house-property rules from a self-occupied home. Keep the same core loan and ownership documents, plus records that establish the property’s use and the period for which it was let out. Do not apply the self-occupied ₹2,00,000 figure to a let-out case without checking the current provisions.
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Acquisition, construction, repair or reconstruction
Section 24(b) refers to capital borrowed for acquisition, construction, repair, renewal or reconstruction. The purpose shown in the sanction documents and the dates in possession or construction records can therefore affect which treatment applies. A certificate that merely says “home loan” may need to be read with the sanction letter and property documents when the purpose is unusual or changed.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How co-borrowers should prepare a defensible claim
- Request both year-specific statements. Ask the lender for the interest certificate and a repayment statement that separately reports principal and interest for the relevant financial year. If the lender provides a provisional certificate, obtain the final certificate when issued and reconcile any difference.
- Verify the identifiers. Check the lender name, loan account number, sanction date, total borrowing and year-end outstanding balance against the sanction letter and account statement. Correct errors with the lender before filing.
- Match the property records. Confirm that the title or conveyance document names the people claiming and states their ownership shares, or otherwise supplies a legally valid basis for those shares.
- Map each person’s support. For every claimant, record the amount of interest and principal being claimed and retain payment records that support that person’s contribution. Where contributions or ownership shares are unequal, document the difference rather than forcing an equal split.
- Establish use and timing. Identify whether the property was self-occupied or let out, whether acquisition or construction was complete, and whether any interest relates to a pre-construction period. Keep possession, completion and construction evidence where those facts matter.
- Choose the applicable regime and year. Check the assessment year, the old or new regime and the current limits before entering either section 24(b) interest or section 80C principal. Do not carry an AY 2026–27 limit into another year without verification.
- Keep one complete file for each claimant. Store the lender certificates, sanction details, ownership documents, payment evidence and property-status records together, with the financial year clearly marked. Each co-borrower should be able to show how their own figure was derived.
What the lender certificate should show
Before relying on a certificate, check for the following information:
- the lender’s legal name;
- the loan account number;
- the sanction date;
- the total loan amount;
- the outstanding balance at the end of the year;
- interest paid or payable for the relevant year; and
- principal repaid for the year, either on the same certificate or on a companion repayment statement.
If a document omits a field, request a corrected or supplementary statement. Keep the sanction letter for the loan purpose even when the annual certificate contains the interest amount, because the two documents serve different evidentiary purposes.
Common mistakes that lead to unsupported claims
- Claiming because the person is named as a co-borrower: borrower status alone does not establish ownership, payment or a deductible amount.
- Assuming an equal split: the reviewed co-owner guidance recognises definite and ascertainable shares but does not create a universal half-and-half rule.
- Using the EMI total: interest and principal are different claims and must be taken from a statement that separates them.
- Ignoring the regime: a lender certificate cannot make self-occupied interest deductible under a regime that disallows it.
- Treating bank statements as the entire proof: payment records are useful substantiation, not a replacement for the lender certificate or ownership documents.
- Forgetting the combined section 80C ceiling: the housing-loan principal amount shares the statutory limit with other eligible section 80C payments.
- Using the wrong year: provisional figures, assessment-year limits and property status must match the return being filed.
- Leaving construction facts undocumented: possession, completion and pre-construction-interest issues require dates and purpose records, not only an EMI statement.
When the records need individual tax advice
Consider advice from a qualified Indian tax professional when co-owners have different ownership shares, one person paid substantially more than another, the property changed from self-occupied to let out, construction was incomplete, a loan was transferred or refinanced, or the borrowers are unsure which regime applies. The official materials establish statutory provisions and return fields but do not provide a universal allocation formula for every joint-borrower arrangement. An adviser can assess the documents and facts without treating a standard equal split as automatic.
Bottom line
Each co-borrower should retain a lender-issued interest certificate, a principal-repayment record, sanction and account details, ownership documents showing definite shares, and payment and property-status evidence relevant to the claim. Then assess each person separately under section 24(b) for qualifying interest and section 80C for qualifying principal, taking account of the property’s use, the loan purpose, the assessment year and the chosen tax regime. A joint loan is evidence of shared borrowing—not, by itself, proof that every borrower can claim the same deduction.
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