You have three years of steady client income, a healthy bank balance and no salary slip to show for any of it. A lender's list asks for papers a salaried applicant never has to produce, so ask for the written checklist before your first visit.
A lender sets its own document list, but the usual self-employed pack is two to three years of ITR with computation of income, a profit and loss account and balance sheet, and six to twelve months of bank statements. This post covers that pack, why a 44ADA filer may be asked for extra statements, how a co-applicant helps, how the interest and principal deductions split between the old and new tax regimes, and what RBI requires lenders to tell you.
The usual documents for a freelancer's home loan
Every lender publishes its own list, so treat any list as a starting point. ICICI Bank's home loan documents page gives an indicative pack for self-employed applicants: bank statements of all operative accounts for the last 6 months, the last 2 years of CA-certified or audited ITR, computation of income, a profit and loss account, a balance sheet and GST returns for the last 1 year. It calls the list indicative only. Other lenders' checklists ask for 2 to 3 years of ITR and statements running from 6 to 12 months, so there is no single number to plan around.
Some lenders also ask for Form 26AS and GST returns, and others do not. Ask for the written checklist for your profile before you gather anything, and ask whether the ITR must be CA-certified. The guide on income proof for freelancers shows how to download the ITR acknowledgement and 26AS, and how to get a CA certificate with a UDIN.
Why a 44ADA filer may be asked for a balance sheet
A lender's list asks for a profit and loss account and a balance sheet as separate items. If you file ITR-3, those statements come with the return. If you file ITR-4 under 44ADA, you may be asked for CA-prepared statements, because a presumptive filer does not keep full books. Whether yours is asked for them depends on the lender, so find out at the first conversation, not after the file is submitted.
If you are unsure which return suits you, the comparison of ITR-3 and ITR-4 for freelancers explains what each one contains. Switching returns only to suit one loan is a separate decision, and your CA is the right person for it.
How a lender reads 44ADA income
A lender may read your declared profit, not your receipts, and each lender uses its own method. Under 44ADA your declared profit is 50 percent of receipts, so the figure it reads can be lower than the money that reached your account. As an illustration, a freelancer who received ₹20 lakh in a year and declared ₹10 lakh under 44ADA may be assessed on the ₹10 lakh.
So ask the lender which figure it uses, receipts or declared profit, and over how many years. The guide on personal loans and credit scores for freelancers covers the credit-score side, and the 44ADA mechanics sit in the ITR-4 guide for freelancers.
Adding a co-applicant
Lenders commonly allow a co-applicant, often a spouse or parent, and the co-applicant's income is generally added to the application. For a freelancer with an uneven income history, that can make the application easier to assess. The co-applicant takes on the repayment liability along with you, so it is a decision for the whole family, not a formality.
There is a tax side too. Under the old regime, each co-owner who is also a co-borrower can claim their own limits of up to ₹2 lakh of interest on a self-occupied home and up to ₹1.5 lakh of principal under 80C. A co-borrower who is not a co-owner may not get the principal deduction. How the claim is split between co-owners is a point to settle with your CA before you file, since the basis is not one every adviser states the same way.
Home loan interest and principal in the old and new regimes
Under the old regime, you can claim up to ₹2 lakh a year of home loan interest on a self-occupied property under section 24(b), and up to ₹1.5 lakh of principal repayment under 80C, which is a combined limit shared with your other 80C items. Under the new regime, there is no 24(b) deduction for a self-occupied home and no 80C. The Income-tax Act 2025 applies from 1 April 2026, but returns for AY 2026-27 use the 1961 Act numbering. Check the income tax portal for any later change.
An illustration of the stakes: if you are in the 30 percent slab and claim the full ₹2 lakh interest, the deduction cuts your tax by ₹60,000, plus cess. Whether that beats the new regime's lower slab rates depends on your whole income. Run both with the old vs new tax regime calculator before you choose, and read the guide on section 80C for freelancers for the principal side.
The closed window of section 80EEA
Section 80EEA, the extra first-time-buyer interest deduction of up to ₹1.5 lakh, applied only to loans sanctioned between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2022. If your loan was sanctioned in that window, ask your CA how the deduction runs for you. If it was sanctioned outside it, do not budget for it. Do not rely on older articles that present it as a current benefit.
What RBI requires your lender to tell you
RBI requires lenders to give a Key Facts Statement for new retail and MSME term loans sanctioned from 1 October 2024. It shows the all-in annual percentage rate and the repayment schedule, and a charge that is not in it cannot be levied without your explicit consent. RBI's notification on the Key Facts Statement sets this out. Read the statement before you sign, not after the disbursal.
On prepayment, RBI's Pre-payment Charges on Loans Directions, 2025, as summarised by AZB & Partners, bar prepayment charges on floating-rate loans to individuals for non-business purposes, for loans sanctioned or renewed on or after 1 January 2026. Fixed-rate loans are not covered by that rule. The rule covers individual non-business loans, so check your sanction letter to see how your own loan is classified.
A checklist before you apply
Start with the ITR acknowledgements and the AIS reconciled against your books, then ask the lender for its written list. The reconciliation matters because the lender will ask for these documents, and the figures should agree with each other, and the guide on reconciling AIS and Form 26AS shows how to clear it. After that, ask the CA to prepare the profit and loss account and balance sheet if you file ITR-4, and collect all operative bank statements for the period the lender names.
Clean records help at this stage. Rinto keeps your invoices and payment records per client, so you can see what each client paid and when. Rinto does not arrange loans, issue income certificates or give financial or tax advice. For the wider toolkit, the guide to tools for freelancers in India is a good place to start. This post is general information, not financial or tax advice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a freelancer get a home loan in India without a salary slip?
Yes, lenders have a separate document route for self-employed applicants, and a salary slip is not part of it. The usual pack is 2 to 3 years of ITR with computation of income, a profit and loss account, a balance sheet and 6 to 12 months of bank statements, with GST returns and Form 26AS asked by some lenders. Each lender sets its own list, so ask for the written checklist for your profile before you apply. Approval and the loan amount depend on the lender's assessment of your income and credit history.
How many years of ITR does a self-employed person need for a home loan?
There is no single number. ICICI Bank's indicative list for self-employed applicants asks for the last 2 years of CA-certified or audited ITR, while other lenders' checklists ask for 2 to 3 years, with profit and loss and balance sheet statements alongside. The list is the lender's own policy, not an RBI rule, so it can differ between banks and between loan products. Ask the lender which years it counts, whether the return must be CA-certified, and whether it wants computation of income attached. Having three years of filed returns ready covers most lists.
Does 44ADA income reduce my home loan eligibility?
It may. Lenders use their own methods, and under 44ADA your declared profit is 50 percent of receipts, so a lender that reads net profit may see a lower income than the money that reached your account. As an illustration, ₹20 lakh of receipts and ₹10 lakh of declared profit may be assessed on the ₹10 lakh. Ask which figure the bank reads, over how many years, and whether it will accept a CA-prepared profit and loss account. That answer tells you more than a general rule can.
Can I claim home loan interest in the new tax regime?
Not for a self-occupied home. The 24(b) interest deduction of up to ₹2 lakh a year and the 80C deduction on principal apply under the old regime only, and the new regime allows neither for a self-occupied property. So the choice of regime changes what your home loan is worth at tax time. The Income-tax Act 2025 applies from 1 April 2026, but returns for AY 2026-27 use the 1961 Act numbering. For a property you rent out, the position differs, so ask your CA. Compare your total tax under both regimes before you choose.
Does a co-applicant help a freelancer get a home loan, and can both claim tax benefits?
Lenders commonly allow a co-applicant, and that person's income is generally added to the application, which can help when a freelancer's income is uneven. On tax, under the old regime each co-owner who is also a co-borrower can claim their own limits of up to ₹2 lakh of interest on a self-occupied home and up to ₹1.5 lakh of principal under 80C. A co-borrower who is not a co-owner may not get the principal deduction. Settle the basis of the split with your CA before you file, and confirm the lender's own co-applicant rules.