How to Save Income Tax on Capital Gains in India?

How to Save income tax on capital gain

The land is a Capital Asset, and as an appreciated asset, a landowner can make substantial capital gains on its sale. However, agricultural land in a rural area in India is not considered a Capital Asset. So, no capital gains are applicable on its sale. Before we find out how your capital gains shall be taxed, make sure Income Tax considers your asset a capital asset.

Short-term or long-term capital asset

The land is a short term capital asset when held for 36 months or less (i.e. up to 3 years). If held for more than 36 months, it is considered a long-term capital asset. So tax implications vary based on the duration you own an asset.

How to calculate your capital gains

To arrive at the Short Term Capital Gains – From the total Sale Price of the asset deduct the cost of acquisition, expenses directly to a sale, cost of improvements(if any) also remove exemptions allowed under section 54(as applicable, we’ll see below what these are) – > the resulting amount is the Short Term Capital Gain.

In the case of Long Term Capital Assets, the only difference is that one can deduct the Indexed Cost of Acquisition/Indexed Cost of Improvements from the sale price. Indexation is done by applying CII (cost inflation index). This increases your cost base (and lowers your gains) since the purchase price is adjusted for the impact of inflation.

Exemptions from your Gains that Save Tax Section 54F (applicable in case its a long term capital asset)

If you are using your entire sale proceeds to buy a house property, you may pay no tax on your gains when – You satisfy all these conditions. 

  • Purchase one house within one year before the date of transfer or two years after that
  • Construct one house within three years after the date of transfer
  • You do not sell this house within three years of purchase or construction
  • This new house purchased or constructed must be situated in India
  • You should not own more than one residential house (other than the new one) on the date of transfer
  • You do not purchase any residential house within two years or construct within three years after such date (other than the new one).

Section 54EC (applicable in case it is a long term capital asset)–Purchasing Capital Gains Bonds

What happens if you do not intend to purchase another property, there is no use in investing the amount in a Capital Gains Account Scheme. In such a case, you can still save the tax on your capital gains by supporting them in certain bonds. Bonds issued by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) or Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) have been specified for this purpose. These are redeemable after three years and must not be sold before the lapse of 3 years from the date of sale of the house property.

You are allowed a period of 6 months to invest in these bonds – through to claim this exemption. You will have to invest before the return filing date. The Budget for 2014 has specified that you can support a maximum of Rs 50lakhs in a financial year in these bonds.

A proposed amendment under Section 54EC
Budget 2018 has proposed an amendment to Section 54EC of the Income-tax Act. This section currently provides for an exemption of long term capital gains(“LTCG”) on sale of any Long Term Capital Asset provided the capital gains are invested within six months from the date of transfer, in the particular long term specified assets viz any bond, redeemable after three years and issued on or after the 1st day of April 2007 by the National Highways Authority of India constituted under section 3 of the National Highways Authority of India Act, 1988 or by the Rural Electrification Corporation Limited.

Vide the Budget, the government has proposed to amend the above section by restricting its scope only to capital gains arising from long-term capital assets, land, building, or both. It is also proposed to provide that specified long-term asset, for making any investment under the section on or after the 1 April 2018, shall mean any bond, redeemable after five years as against the earlier three years and issued on or after 1 April 2018 by the National Highways Authority of India or by the Rural Electrification Corporation Limited or any other bond notified by the Central Government in this behalf.

This amendment will take effect from 1 April 2019 and will, accordingly, apply to the assessment year 2019-20 and subsequent assessment years.

Tax exemptions in case of short-term capital gain

For short-term capital gain, the person can benefit from the basic exemption limit of the income tax slabs. 

Hence, the following persons can benefit from the basic exemption limit.

  • Indian residents (below 60 years): Income tax will be exempt on short-term capital gain on sale of the property if the profit (or total taxable income) stays within Rs.2,50,000.
  • Senior citizens (age 60 – 80 years): Income tax will be exempt on short-term capital gain on the sale of the property if the profit (or total taxable income) stays within Rs.3,00,000.
  • Super senior citizens (older than 80 years): Income tax will be exempt from short-term capital gain on sale of the property if the profit (or total taxable income) stays within Rs.5,00,000.
  • Hindu Undivided Family (HUF): Income tax will be exempt on short-term capital gain on sale of the property if the profit (or total taxable income) stays within Rs.2,50,000.
  • Non-residential Indians: Income tax will be exempt on short-term capital gain on the property sale if the profit (or total taxable income) stays within Rs.2,50,000.

Hence, the only benefit of exemption in short-term capital gain is an unutilised basic exemption limit, as explained above.


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