TYBCom Five Heads Theory 89 Pgs
TYBCom Five Heads Theory 89 Pgs
TYBCom Five Heads Theory 89 Pgs
CHAPTERS
PAGE NO.S
CH-1
BASIC INTRODUCTION AND DEFINITIONS
Those taxes, the final incidence or burden of which is borne by the person paying
the tax, are known as “DIRECT TAXES”, for e.g.: Income Tax, whereas, those taxes, the
final incidence of which is passed to someone else by the person paying the tax, are
called as “INDIRECT TAXES”, for e.g.: SALES TAX, EXCISE DUTY, CUSTOMS
DUTY, SERVICE TAX, etc.
All taxes, whether direct or indirect are levied by the government, hence, are
finally to be deposited with the government. Those Indirect taxes, which are paid to the
government first and recovered from others later, are called “DUTIES”, for e.g.: Excise
Duty, Customs Duty, etc. whereas, those which are collected first and later on deposited
with the government, are known as “TAXES” for e.g.: Service Tax, Sales Tax, etc. as
they are collected from customers first and later on deposited on with the government.
Therefore, one can say that all duties are necessarily indirect taxes, but all indirect taxes
are not duties.
‘Income Tax’ is a tax charged on income earned during the year, i.e. it is an annual
charge on income. It is payable on a yearly basis. “Constitution” is the Parent Law and all
the Acts enacted in India are subject to the overall framework of the constitution of India
and norms laid down therein. Constitution of India has empowered the ‘Central
Government’ of India to levy tax on income and by virtue of this power; the Central
Government has enacted Income Tax Act, 1961, by replacing the earlier act called
Income Tax Act, 1922.
According to Section 1 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, the act is to be called as
“Income Tax Act, 1961” and it extends to the whole of India. It came into force with
effect from 01st April, 1962. It is implemented and administered through the rules laid
down in the act, circulars issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and High
Court / Supreme Court decisions on various issues.
Section 2 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 defines various terms and expressions used
in the act, but before that one must understand certain terminologies used in these
definitions.
(a.) “MEANS”: When a definition uses a term “means”, then the definition is self
explanatory and exhaustive. It implies that the term so defined means only what is
defined therein and nothing beyond that. For e.g.: Definition of “Assessment Year”.
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to widen the scope of the definition, it uses the term “includes”, in order to give an
inclusive definition or an illustrative definition. For e.g.: Definition of “Income” or
definition of “Person”.
(c.) “MEANS AND INCLUDES”: When Legislature intends to define a term and also
include certain items, it includes both the terms “means and includes”. For e.g.:
definition of “Assessee”.
DEFINITIONS
[A.] “ASSESSEE”:Section 2 (7) of the act, defines the term “assessee” to mean a Person
by whom any tax or any other sum of money is payable under the act and includes :
(i.) Every person in respect of whom, any proceeding under the act has been
taken up, whether in respect of assessment of his own income or income of
any other person,
(ii.) A person who is deemed to be an assessee under any provision of the act. For
e.g.: Representative assessee, Agent of Non-Resident, etc.
(iii.) A person who is deemed to be ‘an assessee in default’ under any provision of
the act. For e.g.: An employer who fails to deduct tax at source from salary
paid by him to his employee.
The term ‘Person’ has been defined in an inclusive manner. If one observes the
definitions of the terms “assessee” and “person” both, then one will find that every
‘assessee’ is necessarily a ‘person’, but every ‘person’ need not necessarily be an
‘assessee’.
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be formed by two or more persons, wherein the term ‘person’ would mean the same as
defined by section 2(31) and on the other hand BOI can be formed by two or more
‘individuals’ only. And second difference is that an AOP is formed for the purpose or
desire to earn income, whereas such intention is not necessary in case of BOI, BOI may
be for non-income earning purposes also. For e.g.: Legal Heirs of a deceased person,
coming together to receive income from the estate/property belonging to the deceased,
will be said to have formed Body of Individuals.
[C.] “ASSESSMENT”: The term assessment has not been defined by the act, but it
would mean evaluating or computing the income and determining the income tax
liability of an assessee. According to Section 2 (8) of the act, the term ‘assessment’,
includes ‘reassessment’. Therefore, one can say that ‘Assessment’ is quantification
of Income and Income Tax Liability of an assessee.
[D.] “PREVIOUS YEAR” (P.Y.): The financial year in which the income is earned is
known as Previous Year (and the year in which it is taxed is known as assessment
year). Income Tax Act, has defined the term in Section 3 as ‘The financial year,
immediately preceding the assessment year’. For e.g.: For the Assessment Year
2010-2011, Previous Year would be 2009-2010 i.e. the Financial Year beginning
on 01st April, 2009 and ending on 31st March, 2010.
But for a Business or a Profession newly set up, the very first Previous Year
would begin on the date on which business/profession is set up. For e.g.: If a business
is set up on 17th October, 2009, then first previous year would begin on 17th October,
2009 and end on 31st March, 2010 and thereafter, it would begin on 01st April every
year and end on 31st March, of the next year.
Upto Assessment Year 1988-89, assessees were allowed to follow any year as
their previous year, but from Assessment Year 1989-90 onwards this liberty was
withdrawn and now all assesses are required to follow ‘Financial Year’ as their
Previous Year.
[E.] “ASSESSMENT YEAR” (A.Y.): Assessment Year has been defined by Section
2 (9), to mean ‘A Financial Year, which immediately succeeds the relevant Previous
Year’. For e.g.: For Financial Year 2009-2010, Assessment Year will be 2010-2011.
Income of one financial year is taxed in the next year, which is known as ‘Assessment
Year’.
[F.] “INCOME”: The term ‘Income’ has been defined by Section 2 (24) of the act in a n
illustrative manner. According to Section 2 (24), ‘income’ includes;
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(d.) Value of any perquisite, Profit in lieu of salary, Special Allowance or any other
benefit received by an employee from his employer,
(e.) Export Incentive (e.g.: Duty Drawback),
(f.) Any Interest, Salary, Bonus, Commission or remuneration received by a partner
of a firm from the firm,
(g.) Capital Gains,
(h.) Winnings from Lotteries, Crossword Puzzles, Card Games, Races including
Horse Races, any other game of any sort or from Gambling or Betting of any
nature,
(i.) Any sum received by the assessee from his employees towards Welfare Fund,
Provident Fund, Superannuation Fund, etc.
(j.) Any sum received under KEYMAN INSURANCE POICY including any Bonus
if any, on such policy,
(k.) Non-Compete Fees, Compensation for not sharing any intangible asset such as
Know-how, Patent, Trademark, etc.
(l.) Any sum referred to in section 56 (2)(v).
# Points to be noted:
(1.) Income from ‘Illegal activities’ is also an income and hence, is taxable.
(2.) Income need not be in ‘cash’, it may even be in ‘kind’.
(3.) Gifts of personal nature is not an income. For e.g.: Gifts received on
Birthday or on occasion of Marriage or Festival gifts, etc. But gifts
received in the course of profession is an income. For e.g.: Gift received
by a doctor from his patient in addition to his professional fees for
conducting a successful operation is an income and is taxable, or an
award or trophy received by a sportsman like cricketer is also an income
chargeable to tax.
(4.) Income includes ‘Loss’ also, as loss is a negative income.
(5.) ‘Pin money’ (an amount received by wife from her husband towards
household expenses, or for her personal expenses, etc.) is not treated as
income of wife.
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CH-2
RESIDENTIAL STATUS AND SCOPE OF TOTAL INCOME
(SECTION 6)
The incidence of tax of an assessee depends upon his residential status. Therefore,
residential status of an assessee plays an important role. Residential Status is to be
determined on a year to year basis, as it may change every year, a person may be
Resident in one year and Non-Resident in the other year. Residential status is different
from citizenship/nationality.
INDIVIDUAL
BASIC CONDITIONS :-
1.) He/She stays in India for 182 days or more during the relevant Previous Year.
(whether it’s a Leap year or not, limit will be 182 days only)
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OR
2.) (a.) He/She is in India for 60 days or more during the relevant Previous Year (whether
it’s a Leap year or not, limit will be 60 days only)
and
(b.) He/She is in India for 365 days or more during the last four Previous Years,
immediately preceding the relevant previous year.
1.) An Indian Citizen, who leaves India during the previous year, for the purpose of
employment (employment includes job, business or profession also) outside India or
leaves India for employment as a crew member of an Indian Ship.
2.) An Indian Citizen or a person of Indian origin, who stays abroad, but comes to India
for a visit during the relevant Previous Year. (A person is said to be of Indian Origin if
he himself or any of his/her parents or grandparents were born in undivided India,
where unndivided India would mean India, Pakistan and Bangladesh of toady’s time).
1.) He has been Resident in India (based on two basic conditions mentioned above) in at
least 2 out of last 10 Previous Years immediately preceding the relevant Previous
Year.
AND
2.) He/She has been in India for a period of 730 days or more during the last 7 Previous
Years, immediately preceding the relevant Previous Year.
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R.O.R. : An Assessee, who satisfies at least one of the two basic conditions plus both
the Additional conditions.
R.N.O.R. : An Assessee, who satisfies at least one of the two basic conditions and does
not satisfy either both or anyone of the Additional conditions.
N.R. : An Assessee, who does not satisfy any of the basic conditions.
Note :
1.) The Date of entering India, as well as the date of leaving India, shall be counted
as stay in India. Where, stay in India is not for the whole day, then physical
presence shall be counted on hourly basis.
2.) Stay outside the soil (land) of India, but within the territorial waters of India,
shall also be treated as stay in India. (Territorial Water limits of India = water
limit upto a distance of 20 Nautical Miles from the land of India). For e.g.: Stay in
a Boat moored or anchored within territorial waters of India.
3.) February month has 29 days in case of a leap year. (Leap year is that year, which
is divisible by ‘four’ for e.g.: 2008, 2004, 2000, 1996, 1992, 1988, etc.).
4.) There can not be different residential status for different source of income falling
within the same Previous Year i.e. if an assessee is Non-Resident for one income,
then he is Non-Resident for all the incomes within the same year, as residential
status is to be determined for a particular year and not for a particular income.
5.) A person may be resident in more than one country in the same year. There are
365/366 days in a year. A person may become resident in India by staying for 182
days in India and for rest of the year he may stay in another country and may
become resident of that country also. So, it would be wrong to say that a person
who is resident in India is non-resident in all other countries.
6.) Stay in India need not be continuous.
7.) Stay need not be at the same place in India, it could be at any place or places of
India.
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1.) An Income received in India, but has accrued or is deemed to have accrued, or has
arisen or is deemed to have arisen outside India, OR
2.) An Income received outside India, but has accrued or is deemed to have accrued or
has arisen or is deemed to have arisen in India, OR
3.) An Income received in India, as well as has accrued or is deemed to have accrued, or
has arisen or is deemed to have arisen in India.
Note:
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and later on remitted by him to his family members in India, then such income will be
considered to have been received in U.S.A. only and not in India.
B.) Accrual of Income: Place of accrual of income depends upon the location of ‘source’
of income. If source is located in India, then income has accrued in India, but if source is
located in foreign country, then income is said to have accrued outside India. As per
section 9 of the Act, the ‘source’ of an income depends upon the type of income, which is
as follows :-
Moveable asset
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CH-3
EXEMPT INCOME
(SECTION 10)
Section 10 o the Income Tax Act, deals with incomes, which do not form part
of an assessee’s total income. In other words Section 10 exempts certain incomes from
chargeability to tax. The following are the incomes which are exempted under section
10:-
[1.] Section 10(1): Agricultural Income: Under this section “Agricultural Income” from
“an Agricultural land” in India is exempt from tax. However, Agricultural Income from
Agricultural Land outside India is not exempt, even Agricultural Income from a Non-
Agricultural Land in India or an urban land in India is fully taxable.
[2.] Section 10(2): Share of a member in the income of a Hindu Undivided Family
(H.U.F.): Share in income of HUF received by an individual being a member of that
HUF is exempt in the hands of that individual under this section. Under Income Tax Act,
HUF is an ‘Assessee’, separate from its members and being an assessee, it pays income
tax on its own income separately. If a member of HUF also has to pay tax on his share in
the profits of the HUF, which are already taxed in the hands of HUF, then it would
amount to double taxation. The same income would be taxed twice. Therefore, section
10 (2), exempts such income in the hands of member of HUF.
[3.] Section 10(2A): Share of a Partner in the profits of the Partnership Firm: Just
like HUF in the above case, Partnership Firm is also an ‘Assessee’ separate from its
partners and has to pay tax on its profits. If partners also have to pay tax on their share in
the profits of the firm, then it would amount to double taxation. Section 10 (2A),
therefore, exempts the share of partners in the profits of the firm received by the partner.
(Only share of profit is exempt and not any other remuneration like salary, bonus,
commission, interest on capital, received by partner from the firm).
[4.] Section 10(3): Casual Income: Exemption under this section is now no more
available with effect from Assessment Year 2003-2004.
[5.] Section 10(5): Amount received as ‘Leave Travel Concession’: Will be separately
dealt with in the Chapter on ‘Income from Salaries’.
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rendered outside India, though accrued as well as received outside India, is however,
deemed to have accrued in India and is accordingly taxable in India.
[7.] Section 10(10): Amount received as ‘Gratuity’: Will be separately dealt with in the
Chapter on ‘Income from Salaries’.
[9.] Section 10(10AA): Amount received as ‘Leave Salary’: Will be separately dealt
with in the Chapter on ‘Income from Salaries’.
[13.] Section 10(10D): Maturity Proceeds of a ‘Life Insurance Policy’: Any sum
received by a Policyholder or his Legal Heirs as a maturity proceeds of a Life Insurance
policy or any Bonus on such policy from an Insurance Company is fully exempt from tax
in the hands of either a Policyholder or his Legal Heirs under section 10 (10D).
However, maturity proceeds of a ‘Keyman Insurance policy’ or any Bonus on
such policy is not exempt from tax. (For meaning of ‘Keyman Insurance policy’ and its
taxability, refer to Chapter – I )
With effect from Assessment Year 2004-2005, this exemption is not applicable
on maturity proceeds of that Life Insurance policy or any Bonus thereon, whose ‘Annual
Premium’ exceeds 20 % of the ‘Sum Assured’, provided policy was issued on or after 01st
April, 2003 (i.e. issued from the day one of the Previous Year 2003-2004, which pertains
to Assessment Year 2004-2005).
[14.] Section 10(11) / (12):Receipts from ‘Provident Fund’: Will be separately dealt
with in the Chapter on ‘Income from Salaries’.
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In (b) and (c) above ‘Basic Salary and D.A.’ of only that many months shall be
considered during which the house was rented and not ‘Basic Salary and D.A.’ of the
whole year.
If an employee resides in his ‘own house’ or he does not pay any rent for the
house where he resides, then answer to point (c) above will be NIL and therefore, the
least of (a), (b) and (c) will also be NIL and nothing will be exempt under section 10
(13A). As a result of this entire amount received by employee as H.R.A. will become
taxable in his hands as a Salary.
[17.] Section 10(14): ‘Special Allowance’ received: Will be separately dealt with in the
Chapter on ‘Income from Salaries’.
[18.] Section 10(15): Interest on certain securities: Interest received from 7 % Capital
Investment Bonds, notified ‘Relief Bonds’, Gold Deposit Bonds, notified bonds issued by
‘Local Authority’ and interest received from following notified bonds, securities or
certificates are fully exempt from tax under section 10 (15):-
National Defence Gold Bonds,
National Plan Certificates,
National Plan Savings Certificates,
12 Year National Savings Annuity Certificates,
Treasury Savings Deposit Certificates,
10.5 % Tax Free Bonds issued by HUDCO,
10.5 % Tax Free Bonds issued by National Hydroelectric Power Corporation,
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9.25 % Tax Free Bonds issued by Rural electrification Corporation Ltd. (RECL),
N.R.I. Bonds (Second series) issued by State Bank of India,
N.R.I. Bonds-1988 issued by State Bank of India,
Special Bearer Bonds,
Post Office Cash Certificates,
Post Office Savings Account,
Post Office Cumulative Time Deposits (CTD),
Special Deposit Schemes, etc.
Gold deposit Bonds issued under Gold deposit Scheme, 1999 and notified by
Central Government,
Bonds issued by Local Authority and notified by Central Government,
Notified Bonds.
[20.] Section 10(17): Daily Allowances received by MPs / MLAs / MLCs: Daily
Allowances received by Members of Parliament (M.P.s), Members of Legislative
Assembly (M.L.A.s) or Members of Legislative Council (M.L.C.s) is fully exempt from
tax under section 10 (17).
But Salary received by MPs / MLAs / MLCs is not exempt, it is taxable. Though, it
is called as ‘Salary’, it is always taxable as ‘Income from Other Sources’ and not as
‘Income from Salary’, as MPs / MLAs / MLCs are not employees of Government.
[21.] Section 10(17A): Awards: Any award received by an assessee whether in cash or
in kind, issued to him in ‘Public Interest’ by ‘Central / State Government’ or by any
body / Institution / organization approved by Central / State Government is fully exempt
from tax in the hands of the recipient assessee under section 10 (17A).
But if an award is received from any individual or any private organization then
exemption under section 10 (17A) is not available on such award. Also, if an award is
received by an employee from his employer, then it will be taxable and taxable as a
‘Salary’ income.
Few examples of such exempt awards are:-
• Sir C. V. Raman Award,
• Sir Jagdish Chandra Bose Award,
• Ramon Magsaysay Award,
• Pope John XIII Award,
• Kennedy International Award,
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[23.] Section 10(33): Capital Gain on transfer of Units of US-64 of UTI: Any Capital
Gain arising on transfer of units of US-64 Scheme of Unit Trust of India (U.T.I.) on or
after 01st April, 2002 shall be exempt by virtue of section 10(33), provided units of US-64
were held as Capital Asset.
[24.] Section 10(34): Dividend from a ‘Domestic Company’: Any amount received by
an assessee as a Dividend or as an Interim Dividend from shares (whether equity shares
or preference shares) of an ‘Indian Company’ (whether Public Company or a Private
Company) is fully exempt from tax by virtue of section 10(34) [earlier this exemption was
covered by section 10(33)]. It would be worth to note here that under section 10(34) what
is exempt from tax is dividend from an Indian domestic company. Therefore, dividend
received from a Foreign Company or from a Co.-Operative Society will not be exempt. It
will always be taxable and will be taxable as ‘Income from Other Sources’.
[25.] Section 10(35): Income from ‘Units of a Mutual Fund’: Any income, other than
Capital Gains received by an assessee from units of a Mutual Fund, including units of
Unit Trust Of India (U.T.I.), is exempt from tax under section 10(35). [Earlier it was
covered by Section 10(33)].
[26.] Section 10 (36): Long Term Capital Gains on transfer of eligible Equity
Shares: Long Term Capital Gain arising on transfer of eligible equity shares shall be
exempt from tax by virtue of section 10(36), provided such eligible equity shares were
acquired on or after 01st March, 2003, but before 01st March, 2004 and held for a period
of 12 months before their transfer and sold through a recognized Stock Exchange in
India. An ‘Eligible equity share’ would mean either (1.) An equity share acquired by way
of a Public Issue (I.P.O.) on or after 01 st March, 2003 but before 01st March, 2004, or (2.)
An Equity share of a company, which is listed as on 01st March, 2003 as a BSE-500
INDEX companies on Mumbai Stock Exchange.
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[27.] Section 10(37): Income from Capital Gain on Transfer of Agricultural Land:
Only in the case of an assessee being an Individual or a Hindu Undivided Family, any
Capital Gain arising on transfer of an Agricultural Land situated in a specified area and
used by that individual or his/her parents or by HUF for agricultural purposes, shall be
exempt from its chargeability to Income Tax under section 10(37), provided impugned
Agricultural Land was compulsorily acquired by Government under any Law in force or
sale consideration of such Agricultural Land was determined by Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) or by Central Government. This exemption was being introduced with effect from
Assessment Year 2005-2006 and exempts only those Capital Gains, which have arisen on
sale consideration received on or after 01st April, 2004.
[28.] Section 10(38): Long Term Capital Gain on transfer of Listed Securities: Any
Long Term Capital Gain (Only Long Term Capital Gains and not Short Term Capital
Gains) arising on transfer of Equity Shares listed on a Recognized Stock Exchange in
India, or Equity Oriented Units of Mutual Fund shall be exempt by virtue of Section
10(38), provided such sale transaction attracts Securities Transaction Tax (S.T.T.).
Section 10(38) has been introduced with effect from Assessment Year 2005-2006.
Examination Hint: Important sections from examination point of view are – Section
10(1), 10(2), 10(2A), 10(5), 10(10), 10(10A), 10(10AA), 10(11) / (12), 10(13A),
10(14), 10(34), 10(35), and 10(38).
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CH-4
HEADS OF INCOME
(SECTION 14)
For the purpose of computing total income of an assessee and income tax
thereon, section 14 of the act requires all the incomes of an asseessee to be classified
under the following five heads of income:-
Total of incomes under all the five heads of income is known as Gross Total
Income (G.T.I.) and in the following chapters, we shall discuss all the five heads
individually with the help of practical illustrations.
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CH-5
INCOME FROM SALARIES
(SECTION 15 TO SECTION 17)
In earlier chapter we discussed that there are five heads of income. Now in this
chapter, we shall discuss the first head of income i.e. income from ‘Salaries’. To a
common man or a layman, the term ‘salary’ would mean a fixed monthly remuneration
received from employer for work done, but from Income Tax Act point of view the term
‘salary’ would mean ‘salary’ as defined under section 17 (1). Under section 17 (1), the
term ‘salary’ has been specifically defined in an inclusive manner.
Section 15 of the act talks about the chargeability of an item to tax under this
head as ‘salary’. It explains the basis of charge. According to section 15 the followings
are chargeable to tax under this head:-
(a.) Any salary due to an employee, whether received by him or not – this means that
salary is taxable even if not received by employee, but has become due to him.
(b.) Any salary received by an employee, whether due or not – this means that salary
is taxable even if it has not become due to him but has been received by him. For
e.g.: Advance Salary.
(c.) ‘Arrears of Salary’ – Earlier year’s salary, which has now become due to him and
now received by him.
In other words, any amount due to or received by an employee from his
employer or his ex-employer and coming within the purview of the meaning of the term
‘salary’, as defined under section 17 (1) is chargeable to tax under the head ‘salary’.
Now a question arises is that what is the definition of the term ‘salary’ as given
by section 17 (1)? But before we jump to the definition, let us understand certain essential
norms of the salary income. In order to understand the meaning of the term salary, one
has to keep in mind the following norms. These norms will simplify the understanding of
the definition of the term salary.
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chargeable to tax under the head ‘Profits and gains of Business or Profession’
unlike ‘salary income’ in the hands of a servant or an employee.
(b.) Every person who is employed need not be an Employee: Every person who is
an employee, is necessarily employed by another, but every person who is
employed by another need not be an employee. For e.g.: A Lawyer employed to
file a legal suit or a Doctor employed to operate a patient are though employed by
their clients to carry out some work are not their employees.
(c.) Only Individuals can have a salary income: Only an Individual assessee can
have employer-employee relationship with the other. Therefore, only individuals
can have salary income unlike partnership firm or a company.
(d.) Any payment received from employer: Once employer-employee relationship
is established then any payment received by an employee from his employer is a
salary like fees, commission received from employer. On the other hand, if same
remuneration is received from any other person for the same work, then its not an
income from salary. For e.g.: A Professor who is an employee of XYZ College,
receives a payment for setting/correcting examination papers. – If received from
college, then ‘Salary income’, but if received from University, then ‘Income from
other sources’.
(e.) “Salary” v/s “Wages”: “Salary” and “Wages” are conceptually not different
from each other; both are paid for work done. Normally, Salary is paid for non-
manual work, whereas “Wages” are paid for manual work. Wages are normally,
paid on daily basis whereas salary is normally paid on monthly basis. Income Tax
Act views no difference between salary and wages, both are taxed at the same
rate and are taxed under the same head as ‘income from salary’.
(f.) Salary from past / prospective employer: Salary from past employer or ex-
employer is taxable just like salary from present employer, though employer-
employee relationship is no more in existence. For e.g.: Pension, Termination
Bonus, etc. Salary from future or prospective employer is also taxable just like
salary from present employer, though employer-employee relationship is yet to be
developed. For e.g.: Join-in Bonus.
(g.) Additional Salary: Salary received in addition to normal salary though not
contracted before, between employer and employee, is also taxable. For e.g.:
Overtime salary.
(h.) Net of Tax Salary: If an employee is being offered a Net of tax salary, then what
is taxable in the hands of employee is not only the salary, but also the tax paid on
it by his employer, whether tax is paid by employer voluntarily or under contract
or agreement. Tax paid by employer is treated as a perquisite in the hands of the
employee under section 17(2). For e.g.: If an employee is being paid a tax free
salary of Rs. 2,21,000/- and tax paid by the employer on this salary is Rs.
29,000/- then what is taxable as salary in the hands of employee is not only Rs.
2,21,000/- but Rs. 2,50,000/- i.e. Rs. 2,21,000/- + Rs. 29,000/- of tax paid.
(i.) Salary of M.P. / M.L.A. / M.L.C.: Remuneration to Member of Parliament
(M.P.), Member of Legislative Assembly (M.L.A.) or Member of Legislative
Council (M.L.C.) is paid by Government and is called salary. Even though it is
called as salary it is not taxable as salary but is taxable as income from other
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‘income from salary’ only. Arrears of salary may arise due to ‘revision in pay-
- scale with retrospective effect’ or due to ‘court’s order to increase the pay with
retrospective effect’.
(u.) Grade of Salary: When a candidate applies for a job or employment, he/she is
offered a salary in a particular Grade/Scale. For e.g.: Salary is in the Grade of
Rs.12,000 – 1000 – 18,000 : this means that he/she is appointed at a monthly
salary of Rs. 12,000/- and it will be increased by Rs. 1,000/- p.m. at the end of
every year, till his/her monthly salary reaches Rs. 18,000/- p.m. and thereafter
there will be no increment in the salary. His first year salary will be Rs. 12,000/-
per month and second year salary will be Rs. 13,000/- per month if he continues
his job. Thereafter, it will be increased to Rs. 14,000/- per month in the third
year of his service and so on till monthly salary reaches the level of Rs. 18,000/-
(v.) Salary from UNITED NATIONS ORGANIZATION: Salary received from
United Nations Organization (U.N.O.) or any other Allowances or Perquisites or
Pension received from U.N.O. is not taxable at all.
Place of Accrual of Salary: Salary is deemed to accrue or arise at the place where
services are rendered. Under section 9(1) of the act, Salary for services rendered in
India are deemed to accrue or arise in India. There is only one exception to this rule.
Salary received by an Indian Citizen from Government of India for services rendered
outside India is deemed to have accrued or arisen in India (even though services are
not rendered in India). But all perquisites and allowances received by such person
from Government of India outside India are exempt from tax under section 10(7).
Definition of Salary: Let us now understand the meaning of the term ‘Salary’ as
defined by section 17 (1) of the act. Section 17 (1) defines the term ‘Salary’ in an
inclusive manner and it includes eight items. According to it Salary includes:-
1) Wages,
2) Pension or Annuity [After claiming exemption U/S 10 (10A)],
3) Gratuity [After claiming exemption U/S 10 (10)],
4) Fees, Commission, Perquisites, Profits in lieu of or in addition to salary or
wages,
5) Advance Salary,
6) Leave Salary [After claiming exemption U/S 10 (10AA)],
7) Balance to the credit of Employee’s ‘Recognized Provident Fund’ [After
claiming exemption U/S 10 (11)],
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Prof. J. Nihit Kishore—98202 25728 TYBCom- INCOME TAX
(i.) For those covered by P.O.G.A.: (ii.) For those not covered by P.O.G.A.:
The Least of the following will be exempt: The Least of the following will be exempt:
OR OR
2. Amount notified by Govt. Rs. 3,50,000/- 2. Amount notified by Govt. Rs. 3,50,000/-
OR OR
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Prof. J. Nihit Kishore—98202 25728 TYBCom- INCOME TAX
*Meaning of ‘Salary’: Salary here would mean *Meaning of ‘Salary’: Salary here, would mean
‘Basic Salary’ + Dearness Allowance (D.A.) ‘Basic Salary’ + Dearness Allowance (D.A.)
whether D.A. forms part of Retirement only if D.A. forms part of Retirement Benefits
Benefits or not. + Commission only if based on turnover (T/O)
achieved by the employee.
Salary last drawn: means one month’s salary as Salary of last 10 months: Actual Salary as above
above i.e. Basic Salary + Dearness Allowance of last ten months, immediately preceding the
for a period of one month upto the date of month of retirement. (The month in which
retirement. employee retires, shall be ignored while
calculating last 10 months’ salary)
If Gratuity is received from more than one employer, whether in the same
Previous Year or otherwise, then calculation of exemption under section
10(10) on Gratuity received from other employer will be done as above only,
but amount notified by Government i.e. Rs. 3,50,000/- in above calculation
will be reduced by any exemption claimed earlier on Gratuity received from
any earlier employer.
Gratuity received while in service is always taxable irrespective of whether
the employee is a Government employee or a Non-Government employee. No
exemption under section 10(10) will be available on it.
Gratuity received by Family Members or Legal Heirs of the employee upon
death of that employee is not taxable at all in the hands of Family Members or
Legal Heirs of that employee.
(2.) Pension [Section 10(10A)]: There are two types of Pension:- (a.)Uncommuted
Pension and (b.) Commuted Pension.
(a.) Uncommuted Pension is a monthly or periodical pension received by an
employee after his/her retirement from his/her employment. Uncommuted
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(i.) For those employees who are in receipt of Gratuity in addition to commuted
pension: Amount exempt will be equal to one third (1/3rd) of the total pension
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Prof. J. Nihit Kishore—98202 25728 TYBCom- INCOME TAX
(3.) Leave Salary encashment: [Section 10(10AA)]: As per service rules, an employee
gets various types of paid leaves like Casual Leave, Sick Leave, Maternity Leave, etc. An
employee is allowed to go on for leave for that many number of days, which are allowed
to him/her, without having to loose any salary during the period of leave. If employee
goes on leave beyond that many number of days in a year, then he/she will not be paid for
those excess days of leave. If he/she does not go on leave for the number of days allowed,
then the balance unutilized leave can be either be carried forward to the next year and
utilized in the next year or will lapse, depending upon the service rules. If employee is
allowed to carry forward the unutilized leave, then that leave will be credited to his/her
account. At the time of retirement if an employee has some unutilized leave standing to
his credit then such leave can be encashed by that employee. In other words, that
employee will be paid salary equivalent to the unutilized leave standing to his/her credit.
Such encashment of leave is called ‘leave salary’. If leave salary is encashed while in
service, it is taxable and is taxable as ‘salary’ whether received by a Government
employee or a Non- Government employee. But if it is encashed after or at the time of
retirement, then is exempt from tax under section 10 (10AA) subject to certain limitations
as follows.
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(i.) Cash equivalent of the leave standing to the credit of the employee at the time of his
retirement = (Average salary of last 10 months immediately preceding the date of his
retirement) X leave standing to the credit of employee
Here, for last ten months salary, last ten months shall be taken into consideration upto
the date of retirement.
Salary here, would mean Basic Salary + Dearness Allowance (D.A.) only if D.A. forms
part of Retirement Benefits + Commission only if based on turnover (T/O) achieved by the
employee.
OR
(ii.) Total salary of last ten months immediately preceding the date of retirement. Here also the
term salary would mean Basic Salary + Dearness Allowance (D.A.) only if D.A. forms part of
Retirement Benefits + Commission only if based on turnover (T/O) achieved by the employee.
OR
OR
Leave salary received during the service is always taxable, whether received by a
Government employee or a Non-Government employee.
Leave salary received at the time of or after the retirement is taxable only in the
case of Non-Government employees, subject to availability of exemption under
section 10 (10A).
If Leave salary is received from more than one employer, whether in the same
previous year or in different previous years, then amount of exemption will be
calculated as above only, but the amount notified by Government i.e. Rs.
3,00,000/- will be reduced by any exemption already claimed earlier, if any on
Leave salary received from any previous employer.
Leave salary received by Legal Heirs or Family Members of an employee upon
death of employee, (whether Government employee or a Non-Government
employee) is not taxable at all in the hands of Legal Heirs or Family Members of
that employee.
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2004. Such tax as is paid by the employer shall not be allowed to the employer as a
deduction on account of business expenditure under section 40. (Here, exemption is
available only on tax paid by employer on non-monetary perquisites and not on tax paid
by him on monetary or cash perquisites).
(7.) Value of any Leave Travel Concession: [Section 10(5)]: An employee may receive
Leave Travel Concession or Passage money from his present employer or his ex-
employer for himself and his family members in connection with his proceeding
(journey) to any place in India (journey must be at any place in India only and not outside
India, otherwise exemption under section 10(5) will not be available). Journey may be
performed while in service or after retirement. Exemption under section 10(5) is available
with respect to only two journeys performed in a block of four calendar years (Calendar
year and not financial year i.e. year beginning on 01st January and ending on 31st
December), where four years’ block is predefined by the act as beginning from 1982 and
ending on 1985 and so on, like 1986-1989, 1990-1993, 1994-1997, 1998-2001, 2002-
2005. This means that exemption under section 10(5) is available only two times in a
block of four calendar years. Exemption under section 10(5) will be the least of the
following:-
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(8.) Provident Funds (P.F.): [Section 10(11)]: Provident Fund (P.F.) is a retirement
benefit scheme. Under this, a fixed sum is deducted from employee’s salary as his
contribution and generally, employer also contributes a similar sum as his contribution.
Such funds are then invested in interest yielding securities and they earn interest on it. So,
a balance in employee’s P.F. A/c comprises of four elements, viz. (i.) Employee’s own
contribution, (ii.) Interest on Employee’s own contribution, (iii.) Employer’s
contribution, and (iv.) Interest on Employer’s contribution. The balance in employee’s
P.F. A/c is paid to him at the time of his retirement or is transferred to his new P.F. A/c
with a new employer, if he/she takes up a new employment with a new employer. P.F.
Scheme is developed by Government, basically to promote compulsory savings.
Basically, there are four types of Provident Fund Accounts, namely, (i.)
Statutory Provident Fund (SPF), (ii.) Recognized Provident Fund (R.P.F.), (iii.)
Unrecognized Provident Fund (U.R.P.F.) and (iv.) Public Provident Fund (P.P.F.).
Recognized Provident Fund is a Provident Fund, which is recognized by Commissioner
of Income Tax (C.I.T.), whereas, Unrecognized Provident Fund is a Provident Fund,
which is not so recognized by Commissioner of Income Tax (C.I.T.). Its only an
employer and an employee who can contribute to SAF/RPF/URPF and not an outsider.
Central Government has also established a scheme called Public Provident Fund (P.P.F.),
which is a P.F. Scheme open to general public at large. Any person, whether Salaried or
Self-employed can participate in the PPF Scheme, by opening a PPF A/c with State Bank
of India or any of its subsidiaries or any Nationalised Bank. Even a salaried employee,
who already maintains a SPF/RPF/URPF A/c may open a PPF A/c in addition to that. In
order to maintain a PPF A/c, one has to compulsorily contribute a minimum of Rs. 500/-
every year to the scheme or more than Rs. 500/- in multiples of Rs. 5/- but maximum Rs.
70,000/- in a year. Funds of PPF are invested in some interest yielding securities. PPF
A/c of the accountholder is credited with a predetermined rate of interest every year on
balance lying in the account (current rate of interest is 8 % per annum). Accumulated
balance in PPF A/c is repaid together with interest, after 15 years of maturity period,
unless account is extended by accountholder.
SPF/RPF/URPF A/c balance comprises of four things as discussed earlier i.e.
contribution of employer and employee and interest thereon, whereas PPF A/c balance
can comprise of only two things, namely (i.) Contribution of Accountholder and (ii.)
Interest on accountholder’s contribution, it cannot a have contribution from employer and
accordingly, question of interest on employer’s contribution does not arise.
# Tax treatment of Provident Funds and Exemption under Section 10(11): It can be
better explained with the help of the following table:-
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(9.) Approved Superannuation Fund (S.A.F.): [Section 10(13)]: Just like Recognized
Provident Fund, Superannuation Fund (S.A.F.) balance comprises of four things,
contribution from employer – employee and interest thereon. As far as its tax treatment is
concerned it’s exactly the same as R.P.F. above, nothing is taxable in the hands of
employee, provided S.A.F. is an approved fund. Employee’s own contribution to
approved S.A.F. qualifies for tax rebate under section 88. If S.A.F. is not approved, then
tax treatment is just like U.R.P.F.
Nothing is taxable in the hands of Legal Heirs or Family Members of the
employee, if any amount is received by them from S.A.F. upon death of employee.
(10.) Allowances: ‘Allowances’ means a fixed sum paid by employer to employee for
various purposes or to meet various cost of employee, without considering the actual
expenditure. There are basically, two types of allowances viz. (a.) Those which are fully
taxable and (b.) Those which are partly taxable and partly exempt.
(a.) Fully taxable Allowances: The following Allowances are fully taxable as ‘Salary’:-
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Prof. J. Nihit Kishore—98202 25728 TYBCom- INCOME TAX
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(b.) Allowances which are partly taxable and partly exempt: The following
allowances are partly taxable and partly exempt. Few of them are partly exempt upto the
limits provided by Rule 2A to Rule 2BB and few of them are exempt to the extent they
are actually spent by the employee:-
1.) Section 10(13A): House Rent Allowance (H.R.A.): (Read with Rule 2A): An
amount of fixed monthly allowance received by an employee from his employer,
towards paying rent of a house is exempt from tax in the hands of that employee
subject to the least of the followings:- (Balance H.R.A. received will thus be
taxable in his hands)
d) Actual H.R.A. received by the employee from his employer for that many
number of months for which the house was rented by him. (If House was rented
only for three months during the year, then H.R.A. of only three months only shall
be considered here and not for the whole year) OR
e) 50 % of the salary, if rented house is situated at Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai or
Kolkata or 40 % of salary if rented house is situated at any other place other
than Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai or Kolkata [Here, ‘Salary’ would mean ‘Basic
Salary’ plus ‘Dearness Allowance (D.A.)’ only if D.A. forms part of Retirement
Benefits otherwise only ‘Basic Salary’] OR
f) Excess of Rent paid over 10 % of Salary [Here also, the term ‘Salary’ would
mean ‘Basic Salary’ plus ‘Dearness Allowance (D.A.)’ only if D.A. forms part of
Retirement Benefits otherwise only ‘Basic Salary’]
In (b) and (c) above ‘Basic Salary and D.A.’ of only that many months shall be
considered during which the house was rented and not ‘Basic Salary and D.A.’ of the
whole year.
If an employee resides in his ‘own house’ or he does not pay any rent for the
house where he resides, then answer to point (c) above will be NIL and therefore, the
least of (a), (b) and (c) will also be NIL and nothing will be exempt under section
10(13A). As a result of this entire amount received by employee as H.R.A. will become
taxable in his hands as a Salary.
2.) Section 10(5): Leave Travel Concession: Already discussed in this chapter,
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6.) Transport Allowance: is an allowance received by an employee from his employer for
meeting cost of transport, other than journey between his place of residence and place of
work. It is exempt upto the lower of the following two:-
(a.) Actual Allowance received OR
(b.) Rs. 800/- per month
This limit of Rs. 800/- per month is increased to Rs. 1,600/- per month, if employee is
orthopaedically / physically handicapped or is Blind (Enhanced limit is only for
physically handicapped or blind employees and not for employees suffering from any
other disability like ‘deafness’, ‘dumbness’ or ‘mental retardation’) (If it is received for
meeting cost of journey between his/her residence and place of work, then it is called
‘Conveyance Allowance’ and is fully taxable),
(11.) Perquisites: [Section 17 (2)]: The term ‘Perquisite’, popularly known amongst us
as ‘Perks’, has not been properly defined by the act. It has been defined by the act in
section 17 (2) in an inclusive manner. According to Section 17 (2) “The term ‘Perquisite’
includes the followings…..”, but no technical definition is given by the act. In common
parlance the term ‘perquisite’ can be understood as some benefit above and over the
salary received by an employee. It can be a monetary (cash) benefit or a non-monetary
(non-cash) benefit i.e. a benefit in kind.
But as far as taxability of perquisites is concerned, we divide them into three
different categories:-
A.] Those Perquisites which are not taxable at all in the hands of any employees,
B.] Those Perquisites which are taxable in the hands of all employees,
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C.] Those Perquisites which are taxable in the hands of ‘Specified’ employees only.
Let us now understand perquisites under all the three categories and their
valuation rules as given by the Income Tax Act. Let us first take up those perquisites
which are not taxable at all in the hands of any recipient employee.
A.] Those Perquisites which are not taxable at all in the hands of any employees:
The following perquisites are totally exempt:
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Prof. J. Nihit Kishore—98202 25728 TYBCom- INCOME TAX
employer,
14.) Employees’ Personal Accident Insurance Premium paid by employer,
15.) Periodicals/Magazines/Journals/Newspaper, etc. provided by employer free of
cost in the office to the employee,
B.] Those Perquisites which are taxable in the hands of all employees: The
following Perquisites are taxable in case of all employees (in case of a non-monetary
perquisite, valuation to be done as per rules given in the act, ignoring its fair market
value or any other justifiable method):-
(a.)In the hands of a Government Employee: Valuation to be done as per rules framed
by Central Government in this regard.
(b.)In the hands of a Non-Government Employee : The Taxable Value will be given in
the question. However, just for the sake of knowledge of students, the valuation to
be done as per provisions of Income Tax Act, as follows:-
employer,
(C.) > 25 Lacs* Taxable Value = 15 % of (a) or (b) whichever is
Salary of employee lower
If the Accommodation is provided in a Hotel or a Motel, then the taxable value will
be the lower of the following two:-
(a.) 24% of the Salary,
OR
(b.) Actual Charges paid or payable by the employer
Here, Salary = Basic Salary + D.A. (If considered for retirement benefits) + Bonus
+ Commission (whether based on turnover achieved by employee or not) + all other
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Prof. J. Nihit Kishore—98202 25728 TYBCom- INCOME TAX
taxable perquisites but excluding any non-monetary perquisite and taxable portion of
Employer’s Contribution to Employees’ Provident Fund.
5.) Payment of Life Insurance Premium or any Annuity by employer on the life of
employee: If any premium on life insurance policy of an employee is paid by his/her
employer or an annuity of employee is paid by employer, then it is an extra benefit
received by employee in addition to his/her salary and is therefore taxable as a perquisite
in the hands of all employees. (This is also a monetary perquisite and therefore its
valuation is not required).
6.) Valuation of any other notified fringe benefits: Value of the following notified
fringe benefits are taxable in the hands of all employees (If valuation of any perquisite is
required to be done, then valuation is to be done as per rules provided by the act and in no
other way, even if any other method of computation is more justified):-
Interest free loan of more than Rs. 20,000/-: If any interest free loan is
given or any loan at concessional rate of interest is given by an employer to
employee, other than ‘Medical Loan’ and average monthly outstanding
balance of loan is more than Rs. 20,000/- then amount of notional interest on
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Value = (Cost of the asset less depreciation* thereon) less any amount
recovered from the employee by the employer towards the cost of the asset.
*Depreciation shall be charged at the rates as given below:-
The following Perquisites are taxable in the hands of specified employees only:-
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Permissible Deductions from Gross Salary under Section 16: After taking total of all
the above, i.e. total of Basic Salary + Dearness Allowance + Dearness Pay + Bonus +
Commission + All Taxable Allowances + All Taxable Perquisites, whether Monetary or
Non-Monetary, what we get is known as “GROSS SALARY”. From ‘Gross Salary’ so
computed, the following amounts can be claimed as deduction under section 16:-
(1.) Standard Deduction: [Section 16(i)]: No more available with effect from A.Y.
2006-2007.
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PARTICULARS AMOUNT
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CH-6
INCOME FROM HOUSE PROPERTY (H.P.)
(SECTION 22 TO SECTION 27)
An income is chargeable to tax under this head U/S 22, only if the following
three conditions are satisfied, namely,
1.) As a House Property, there should be either a ‘house’ or ‘a house and land adjoining
the house’ and not only the ‘land’ or ‘vacant plot of land without a house/building’,
2.) The Assessee should be the owner that house property, whether a Legal owner or a
Deemed owner. (If the Assessee has transferred the property to his/her spouse or a
Minor child, without adequate consideration, then he still continues to be the deemed
owner of that property.) If the assessee is in receipt of rent from H.P. but he is not the
owner, but is a tenant, then that rent will be charged to tax as income from other
sources (as a rent from sublet property) and not as income from H.P.,
3.) The property should not be used by the assessee for his Business/Profession, like
used as Office, shop, godown, etc.
Points to be noted:-
1.) Income from vacant plot of land would be chargeable to tax as ‘income from other
sources’ or as ‘income from Business/Profession’ and not under this head of income.
2.) Unrealized rent of property will become taxable in the year of receipt of such rent,
even if the assessee is no more the owner of the said H.P. i.e. if he has sold off the H.P.
3.) If the assessee receives a composite rent, by letting out H.P. together with some other
assets like Furniture, Air conditioner, Refrigerator, etc. then that part of the rent, which is
attributable to H.P. will be charged under this head, whereas that part of the rent, which is
attributable to the other assets will be chargeable to tax as ‘Income from other sources’.
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4.) In case of composite rent if, ‘letting out H.P.’ only, without letting out of the other
assets, is not acceptable to the other party, then the entire composite rent will be
chargeable to tax either as ‘income from Business/Profession’ or as ‘income from other
sources’ as the case may be and not as ‘income from H.P.’, even if it is possible to
bifurcate the composite rent into ‘rent from H.P.’ and ‘rent from other assets’.
There are mainly two possibilities in case of a H.P. either (i.)the property is
given by the owner on hire to somebody for rent, whether for residential purpose or for
commercial purpose (such properties are called Let out properties- L.O.P.) or (ii.)the
property is used by the owner for his own residence or for the residence of his family
members (such properties are called Self Occupied Properties – S.O.P.).
A Self occupied property could be used either for residential purpose or for
commercial purpose i.e. either as a residence or as an office. If S.O.P. is used for
commercial purposes i.e. as an office, shop or godown, then it is not to be considered in
this chapter. In this chapter we shall consider only those S.O.P. which are used for
residential purpose.
What is taxable as an income from H.P. is not the ‘actual rent received minus
actual expenditure incurred’, but the taxable income is to be calculated in the following
way :-
# Calculation of Gross Annual Value (G.A.V.) for a Let Out Property (L.O.P):-
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Prof. J. Nihit Kishore—98202 25728 TYBCom- INCOME TAX
Note: Municipal Valuation, Fair Rent and Standard Rent (If Rent Control Act is
applicable) will be readily given in the question, if not given then shall not be
assumed to be NIL, but shall be completely ignored, assuming, that particular item to
be not applicable for the valuation.
Illustration 1. Mr. X owns four houses at different parts of India with following
details. Compute the Gross Annual Value (GAV) of the house properties.
Solution : Applying the above formula to details of all the four houses as given in the
above table, we get the following Gross Annual Values:-
House I: Rs. 52,000/- or Rs. 48,000/- whichever higher. Hence, GAV is Rs. 52,000/-.
House II: Rs. 52,000/- or Rs. 60,000/- whichever higher. Hence, GAV is Rs. 60,000/-.
House III: Rs. 56,000/- or Rs. 48,000/- whichever higher. Hence, GAV is Rs. 56,000/-.
House IV: Rs. 52,000/- or Rs. 58,000/- whichever higher. Hence, GAV is Rs. 58,000/-.
# Calculation of Income from House property from a Let Out Property (L.O.P):-
Particulars Amount
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Points to be noted:
(a.) If Municipal Taxes are paid by the Tenant, then that part of the taxes, which is
paid by the Tenant will not be allowed to be deducted.
(b.) Those Municipal Taxes are allowed to be deducted, which are actually being paid
by the assessee being the owner of the H.P., even if taxes paid are not for the
relevant Previous Year i.e. if the taxes of P.Y. 2008-2009 are paid in 2009-2010,
then will be allowed to be deducted in P.Y. 2009-2010.
(c.) If the H.P. is located outside India, then Municipal Taxes levied by the
Government of that country will be allowed to be deducted.
(d.) Interest on borrowed capital is allowed to be deducted on accrual basis, even if it
is not paid during the year.
(e.) If the capital is borrowed for purposes other than those mentioned above, then
interest will not be allowed to be deducted. For e.g.: Interest on loan taken for
marriage of assessee’s daughter by mortgaging house property – will not be
allowed as a deduction u/s 24(b).
(f.) Only interest on loan is allowed to be deducted, i.e. interest on interest, or interest
on delayed repayment of loan is not allowed to be deducted.
(g.) Interest on ‘new loan’ taken for discharging the ‘old loan’ is allowed to be
claimed.
(h.) No other expenses, except of those mentioned above will be allowed to be
deducted. For e.g.: Insurance charges of H.P., Rent collection charges, Society
maintenance charges of H.P., etc. will not be allowed to be deducted.
Illustration 2. Mrs. X is the owner of four houses. She pays local taxes @ 10 % of
their Municipal Valuation. Houses I and III are covered by Rent Control Act.
Determine their Net Annual Value (N.A.V.):
Solution:
Mrs. X
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# Calculation of Income from House property for a Self Occupied Property (S.O.P):-
Particulars Amount
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Prof. J. Nihit Kishore—98202 25728 TYBCom- INCOME TAX
Points to be noted:
(a.) Only those Self Occupied Properties are considered which are self occupied for
the purpose of residence of assessee or assessee’s family members. Those S.O.P.
which are used for commercial purposes by assesee are not to be considered here.
(b.) In case of S.O.P. Gross Annual value of the property is always to be taken as NIL.
No deduction is allowable towards Municipal Taxes, whether paid or not paid.
Hence, NAV of such property will always be NIL.
(c.) Since, NAV of such property is NIL, Standard Deduction U/S 24 (a) will also be
NIL.
(d.) If the capital is borrowed for purposes other than those mentioned above, then
interest will not be allowed to be deducted. For e.g.: Interest on loan taken for
marriage of assessee’s daughter by mortgaging house property – will not be
allowed as a deduction U/S 24 (b).
(e.) Interest on capital borrowed is allowed subject to maximum of Rs. 30,000/- for
S.O.P. that means deduction will be the actual amount of interest for the year or
Rs. 30,000/- whichever is lower. (Such limit is applicable only to S.O.P and not to
L.O.P.- For L.O.P. actual interest is allowed to be deducted, without any
maximum ceiling limit).
(f.) Only interest on loan is allowed to be deducted, i.e. interest on interest, or interest
on delayed repayment of loan is not allowed to be deducted.
(g.) Instead of Rs. 30,000/- as explained in (e.) above, a higher limit of Rs. 1,50,000/-
is available, if all the three following conditions are satisfied :-
(1.) Capital is borrowed or Loan is taken on or after 01st April, 1999.
(2.) Capital is borrowed only for the purpose of purchase or construction of
house property and for no other purpose. (Even if capital is borrowed for
the purpose of repair, renewal or reconstruction of H.P., then benefit of
higher limit of Rs. 1,50,000/- will not be available and therefore, limit of
Rs. 30,000/- will be applicable)
(3.) Borrower must purchase the H.P. or construct the H.P. within three
years from the end of the financial year in which the capital was borrowed
or loan was taken. For e.g.: If the loan was taken on 27th June, 2006 then
the financial year in which loan is taken expires on 31st March, 2007 and
period of three years from the end of financial year in which loan was
taken, expires on 31st March, 2010. Therefore, purchase or construction of
H.P. shall be completed by 31st March, 2010 in this example, in order to
claim higher deduction.
All the three conditions must be satisfied. Even if two conditions are
satisfied, but anyone condition is not satisfied, then higher deduction limit
of Rs. 1,50,000/- will not be available.
(h.) In case of S.O.P., due to GAV/NAV being NIL and interest on borrowed capital
allowed to be claimed as a deduction, there may be a negative income from S.O.P.
(i.) Interest on ‘new loan’ taken for discharging the ‘old loan’ is allowed to be
claimed.
(j.) No other expenses, except of those mentioned above will be allowed to be
deducted. For e.g.: Insurance charges of H.P., Rent collection charges, Society
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Whether, property is S.O.P. or L.O.P. it can be put to use for the purpose of
residence or for letting out, only if the construction of the property is completed. It
may so happen that the loan is taken, but the construction of the property is completed
only after few years from the date of the loan. Interest on loan is allowed to be
deducted from H.P. income only when the property is put to use which is possible
only when the construction of the property completed. What will happen to the
interest on loan for the period between the date of the loan and the date on which it’s
construction is completed (such period is known as pre-construction period)? Will it
lapse? Answer is No! It will be allowed to be claimed as a deduction U/S 24 (b) in the
following way :-
(a.) Pre-construction period begins on the date on which the loan is taken.
(b.) Pre-construction period ends, either on the date on which the loan is fully repaid
or on 31st March, immediately preceding the date of completion of construction,
whichever date is earlier.
(c.) For e.g.: (1.) If loan is taken on 25th April, 2006 and (2.) Construction of the
property is completed on 28th March, 2009 and (3.) Loan is fully repaid on 13th
May, 2008. ⇒ Pre-construction period in this case would begin on 25th April,
2006 and end either on (i.) the date of repayment of loan i.e. on 13th May, 2008,
or (ii.) on 31st March, immediately preceding the date of completion of
construction i.e. on 31st March, immediately preceding 28th March, 2009 = 31st
March, 2008. Therefore, the date on which the pre-construction period expires
will be either 13th May, 2008 or 31st March, 2008, whichever is earlier i.e. 31st
March, 2008 (As it comes before 13th May, 2008).
(d.) Now find out the total interest paid/payable during the pre-construction period as
above, for the entire pre-construction period.
(e.) 1/5th of the Total pre-construction period interest is allowed to be deducted every
year, during the post-construction period for five years.
(f.) In case of S.O.P., Pre-construction period interest is also subject to ceiling limit of
Rs. 30,000/- or Rs. 1,50,000/- as the case may be.
[C.] DEEMED LET OUT PROPERTY (D.L.O.P.): If the assessee has more than one
property, which are not let out by him, then as per the provisions of the act, any one of
such properties, at the option of the assessee can be treated by him as a Self Occupied
Property and all such other properties, though not let out, will be considered as let out.
Such S.O.P.s which are even though not let out but are considered to have been let out are
called ‘DEEMED LET OUT PROPERTIES’ (D.L.O.P.) and are treated at par with Let
out properties. All the provisions of the act that are applicable to a let out property are
equally applicable to such D.L.O.P. properties.
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Illustration 3. Mr. Rajesh Ganatra has two houses, both of which are Self-Occupied.
The Particulars of the houses are as under:
Solution:
Mr. Rajesh Ganatra
Computation of Net Annual Value
[D.] PARTLY LET OUT AND PARTLY SELF OCCUPIED PROPERTY: It may so
happen that a property is divisible into two parts. One part of the property is let out by the
assessee, whereas the other part is self occupied by the assessee. In such cases, the entire
property will be treated as comprising of two properties. That part of the property which
is let out, will be treated as an independently ‘Let Out property’, whereas that part of the
property, which is self occupied, will be treated as an independently ‘Self Occupied
property’ and all the provisions of the act, that are applicable to L.O.P./S.O.P. shall be
applicable to both such independent parts respectively as if they are two different
properties. For e.g.: If one property is divisible into two parts, as Part A and Part B and
Part A is let out, whereas, Part B is used by the assessee for his own residence, then both
Part A and B will be treated as two separate properties. Part A will be treated as 100 %
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L.O.P whereas Part B will be treated as 100 % S.O.P. and all the provisions of the act
regarding L.O.P will be applicable to Part A and all the provisions of the act regarding
S.O.P. will be applicable to Part B.
[E.] PROPERTY LET OUT FOR PART OF THE YEAR AND SELF OCCUPIED
DURING THE REMAINING PART OF THE YEAR: It may so happen that one
single property is used by the assessee for his residence for a part of the year say for 9
months and the same property is let out by him for the remaining part of the year say for
3 months. In such cases, the entire property will be treated as having been let out all
throughout the year and all the provisions of the act regarding L.O.P. will be applicable to
such property. Rent for three months i.e. the rent for the period during which the property
was self occupied will be allowed to deducted [In Step no. (f.) and (g.) of Calculation of
GAV of a L.O.P] as a loss due to vacancy which is popularly known as ‘vacancy loss’ or
‘vacancy allowance’. (Such Property will be treated as L.O.P., even if it was let out only
for a single day during the entire relevant Previous Year)
Note: No further deduction for any expenses will be allowed from the taxable amount
calculated as above. For e.g.: Deduction towards legal charges to recover such rent,
collection charges, etc.
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Note: No further deduction for any expenses will be allowed from the taxable amount
calculated as above. For e.g.: Deduction towards legal charges to recover such rent,
collection charges, etc. No actual expenditure incurred will be allowed to be deducted, as
Standard Deduction @ 30 % is allowed to be claimed there from.
Exercise:
Illustration 4. Mr. John Abraham owns two houses, one of which is Let Out to ABC
Ltd. and the other one is Let Out to Mr. A for Business purposes.
Determine the taxable income of Mr. John Abraham, under the head Income
from House Property for the Assessment Year 2009-2010, after taking into account
the following information relating to the property income:
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Solution:
MR. JOHN ABRAHAM
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CH-7
PROFITS AND GAINS OF BUSINESS/PROFESSION
(SECTION 28 TO SECTION 44D)
In all, there are three concepts, namely, (i.) Business, (ii.) Profession and (iii.)
Vocation. There’s no need to explain the term ‘Business’, as it is very much self-
explanatory. According to section 2(13), the term ‘Business’ is defined to include any
Trade, Commerce or Manufacture or any Adventure or Concern in the nature of Trade,
Commerce or Manufacture. The term ‘Profession’ has been defined in a very narrow
manner. According to section 2(36), the term ‘Profession’ has been defined to include
any ‘Vocation”. The terms ‘Profession’ and ‘Vocation’ are very similar to each other; the
only difference is that ‘Vocation’ requires ‘natural abilities’, whereas ‘Profession’
requires some kind of ‘educational qualification’. Chartered Accountant, Doctor, Lawyer
are examples of profession, whereas examples of vocation would include, Carpenter,
Cobbler, Plumber, Barber, etc. Income Tax Act, does not recognize any difference
between Profession and Vocation, according to it both vocation and profession are one
and the same, but it does recognize the difference between ‘Business’ and ‘Profession’.
Though, act recognizes the difference between the two, income from both are taxed at the
same rates and in a similar way.
As per Section 28 of the Income Tax Act, the following conditions are required
to be satisfied in order to charge an income under this head:-
Even if all the above conditions are satisfied, the following incomes are not
chargeable to tax under this head (they may be chargeable under some different head of
income):-
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(1.) Rent from House Property, even though it is a business of the assessee. It is
always chargeable to tax as income from House Property.
(2.) Winnings from Lotteries, Puzzles, Crossword, Card Game or any other game of
any sort or nature, Races including Horse Races, Gambling or Betting of any sort,
etc. Such incomes are always taxable as income from other sources.
(3.) Dividend income. Dividend income is always taxable as Income from Other
Sources.
Note:- Income from ‘Illegal business’ is also chargeable to tax and is chargeable under
this head only.
# Following Losses are allowed to be deducted from above incomes under this
head:- (Generally allowable Losses)
(1.) Loss of Stock due to Tsunami, Fire, Flood, Accident, etc. or any other Natural
Calamities,
(2.) Fall in the value of stock-in-trade due to devaluation in the market price of stock-
in-trade,
(3.) Loss of Cash by theft,
(4.) Loss due to negligence or dishonesty of employees,
(5.) Loss due to insolvency of a Banker or a Banking Company, with whom assessee
has an account,
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(6.) Apart from the above any other loss will be allowed to be deducted from the above
income, if following conditions are satisfied:-
(a.) Loss should be in the nature of a ‘Revenue Loss’ and not in the nature of a
‘Capital Loss’.
(b.) Loss should have been incurred during the Previous Year.
(c.) Loss should be incidental to or related to the Business or Profession of the
assessee.
Conditions:-
(a.) Assessee should be the owner of the asset, either entirely on his own or
jointly with others.
(b.) Asset must be used in the Business or Profession of the assessee.
(c.) Asset must have been used during the Previous Year. (not necessarily for
the whole year, but at least for one single day)
Depreciation is not charged on an individual asset, but is charged on a “Block of
Assets”, as defined by section 2 (11) and is computed as follows:-
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Solution:
Computation of Depreciation Allowable under section 32 of the act.
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8.) Section 40A(7): Provision for Gratuity on retirement: Any amount debited to P
& L A/C as a ‘Provision for Gratuity on retirement’, payable to employees on
their retirement, is not allowed as a deduction. (Because provision for gratuity on
retirement is not an actual liability of the assessee, it’s just a contingent liability)
9.) Section 40A(9): Contribution by employer to a Non-Statutory Fund is not allowed
as a deduction to the employer.
10.) Section 43B: Unpaid Statutory Liability: Certain expenses are allowed to be
deducted only on actual payment basis, i.e. they are deductible only if they are
actually paid during the year. Following is the list of such expenditures:-
Any Tax, Duty, Cess, Fees payable under any law. (Fees here would mean
legal fees in the form of tax)
Contribution to any Recognized Provident Fund (R.P.F.), Superanuation
Fund (S.A.F.) or ay other Employees’ Welfare Fund.
Bonus or Commission to ‘employees’. (Bonus/Commission does not include
any other incentives given to employees. Here, the act has specified only
bonus/commission. So any incentive other than bonus/commission is not
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subject to any restriction imposed by section 43B) (Here, we are talking about
bonus/commission to ‘employees’ only and not to any other person, e.g. we
are not concerned with bonus/commission paid/payable to an agent)
Any sum payable as an interest on loan from any ‘Public Financial
Institution’ like ICICI, HDFC, IDBI, IFCI, etc.
Interest on any term loan or an advance taken from any ‘Scheduled bank’.
‘Leave Salary’ paid to an employee either during his service or at the time of
his retirement.
All the above expenses will be allowed to be deducted only if actually paid either
during the Previous Year or at any time after the end of the financial year but on or before
the due date for filing of the Income Tax Return for that Previous Year, otherwise it will
not be allowed to be deducted in the year in which such expenditure was due. Such
expenditure can then be claimed only in that year in which its actual payment is being
made.
# FORMAT OF COMPUTATION OF PROFITS AND GAINS OF BUSINESS OR
PROFESSION:
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CH - 8
INCOME FROM CAPITAL GAINS
(SECTION 45 TO SECTION 55)
Under Section 45 (1), Profits and Gains arising on transfer of a Capital Asset is
chargeable to tax under this head of income. An income is chargeable to tax under this head of
income, only if all the following five conditions are satisfied:-
(1.) There must be a ‘Capital Asset’,
(2.) The capital asset must be ‘Transferred’,
(3.) Such Capital Asset must be transferred during the Previous Year,
(4.) As a result of transfer of capital asset, there should be a ‘Profit’ or ‘Gain’ arising
thereon,
(5.) Such Profit or Gain arising on transfer of capital asset, should not be exempt from tax
under section 54 of the act.
If all the above five conditions are satisfied, then such profit or gain arising on transfer
of a capital asset is chargeable to tax under this head. It would be worthwhile to note here, that
these conditions are subject to certain exceptions, which will be dealt with as and when we come
across such exceptional cases. Let us now try and understand all the five conditions mentioned
above.
(1.) There must be a ‘Capital Asset’: The term ‘Capital Asset’, has been defined by Section 2
(14) as ‘A Property of any kind, held by the assessee, whether connected with his Business or
Profession or not, whether tangible or intangible, moveable or immoveable, fixed or circulating’
For e.g.: Land, Building, Plant, Machinery, Vehicles, etc. are examples of tangible capital assets,
whereas, Goodwill, Patent, Copy Right, Trade Mark, etc. are examples of intangible capital
assets. But section 2 (14) excludes, the following Capital Assets from its purview. In other words,
though the following six assets are capital assets, they are specifically being excluded from the
definition of ‘Capital Assets’:-
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(a.) Any Stock-in-trade, Consumables Stores, Raw Materials held for Business or Profession
of the assessee. Profit on sale of such stock-in-trade will be chargeable as Profits and
Gains of Business or Profession of the assessee. Whether a particular asset is stock-in-
trade or not depends on the business of the assessee, for example a ‘car’ may be a capital
asset for others, but for an assessee who is a dealer of cars, car is certainly, stock-in-
trade.
(b.) Any ‘Personal effects’ (excluding jewellery, gold, etc.) of the assessee, i.e. any
moveable property of the assessee, including any wearing apparel or furniture held for
personal use of the assessee or for use of any of his family members who are dependent
on him. Any Jewellery, Gold, Ornaments, Precious or Semi-Precious Stones (Stones –
whether sewn into any wearing apparel or studded in any furniture or otherwise),
Precious or Semi-Precious Metal or any Alloy of such Metal are considered to be Capital
Asset, even though these are asseessee’s personal effect. Even any Immoveable Property
held by assessee is capital asset even if held for personal use, for e.g.: Assessee’s own
personal Residential House, though used by him for his personal residence, is not
considered as a part of his ‘personal effect’ and is therefore, considered as a ‘capital
asset’ and any gain arising on transfer of a such residential house is chargeable to tax as
capital gain. However, Drawings, Paintings, Archaeological Collections, Sculptures,
though meant for ‘personal purpose’, they are not to be considered as ‘Personal Effect’,
therefore, such assets will be considered as capital assets.
(c.) Any Rural ‘Agricultural Land’ situated in India.: If ‘Agricultural Land’ is situated in
rural area in India, then that agricultural land is excluded from the purview of ‘capital
assets’. But if agricultural land is situated ‘outside India’ or is situated in ‘an urban area
in India’ or ‘outside India’, then such land shall be treated as capital asset, even if it is
used for agricultural purposes.
(d.) 6 ½ % Gold Bonds, 1977, 7 % Gold Bonds, 1980, National Defence Bonds, issued by
Central Government.
(e.) Special Bearer Bonds, 1991.
(f.) Gold Deposit Bonds, issued under Gold Deposit Scheme, 1999.
(g.) Goodwill of a Profession (and not Goodwill of a Business)
(2.) The capital asset must be ‘Transferred’: Such capital asset must be transferred. As defined
by section 2(47) the term transfer includes the followings:-
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(f.) Transfer of property under section 53A of the Transfer of Property Act, i.e. transfer of
physical possession of the property in part performance of contract of selling the
property.
(g.) Any other transaction, which has an effect of transferring the immoveable property
belonging to the assessee.
(h.) Conversion of a Capital Asset in to ‘Stock-in-Trade’.
(i.) Introduction of a Capital Asset by a partner in his partnership firm, as his capital
contribution.
There are however, few exceptions to the definition of ‘Transfer’, i.e. some transactions
are not regarded as transfer. The following transactions are not regarded as ‘Transfer’, hence no
capital gain tax liability will arise in case of following transactions:-
(a.) An asset transferred or given to somebody by way of ‘Gift’,
(b.) An asset transferred by way of ‘Will’, upon death of assessee,
(c.) Conversion of Debentures into Equity or Preference Shares,
(d.) Transfer of Goodwill of ‘Profession’ (only of a Profession and not of Business)
(3.) Such Capital Asset must be transferred during the Previous Year: Capital Gains are
chargeable to tax on accrual basis, i.e. to say that capital gains are chargeable to tax in the year in
which the asset is transferred, whether selling price is received in that year or not. In other words,
the year of transfer of the capital asset is the year in which the capital gain arising thereon is
chargeable to tax, irrespective of the date of receipt of the sale consideration. Even method of
accounting followed by the assessee is irrelevant. There are two exceptions to this general
condition (i.) A case of transfer, where a capital asset of an assessee is compulsorily acquired by
Government under ‘Compulsory Acquisition’ under any law. In such a case capital gain arising
on transfer of such asset is not chargeable to tax in the year of transfer of the asset, but is taxable
in that year in which the assessee receives the compensation (sale consideration) from the
Government. If compensation is received from Government in part or in installment, then capital
gain will be taxable in that year in which the first installment is received by the assessee. (ii.) In a
case, where a Capital Asset of the assessee is converted by assessee into ‘Stock-in-Trade’. In such
a case, the capital gain will be taxable in that year in which the converted asset is finally sold as
stock-in-trade and not in the year in which it is converted into stock.
TYPES OF CAPITAL ASSETS: From students’ point of view, a Capital Asset may either be
Tangible or Intangible, Fixed or Circulating, or Moveable or Immoveable. But from Income Tax
Act point of view, Capital Assets are of two types, namely, Short Term or Long Term. Short
Term and Long Term Assets are not two separate assets. An asset, which is a short term capital
asset, can become long term capital asset, if held by assessee for some more period of time. In
other words, character of an asset is dependent on the period of holding (P.o.H.) of that asset by
the assessee. Let us now understand these two types of Capital Assets.
(a.) SHORT TERM CAPITAL ASSET: If a Capital Asset is held by the assessee for a period
not exceeding 36 months (3 Years) is called ‘Short Term Capital Asset’. In other words, if a
capital asset is held for a period upto 36 months, then it is called ‘Short Term Capital Asset’.
(b.) LONG TERM CAPITAL ASSET: If a Capital Asset is held by the assessee for a period of
more than 36 months, then it is called ‘Long Term Capital Asset’.
CAPITAL ASSET
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In other words, a capital asset is called as short term upto first 36 months of its period
of holding, then from the very next day after completion of 36 months’ period, the same asset will
be called as long term capital asset.
EXCEPTION TO THE ABOVE RULE: In the following three cases, for determining whether
the asset is short term or long term, the period of holding of 36 months, as discussed above, shall
be substituted by 12 months.
PERIOD OF HOLDING: Period of holding means, the period starting from the date on which
the asset was acquired by the assessee and ending on the date of transfer of the asset by the
assessee or the date on which the calculation of such period is made, whichever is earlier. Period
of holding plays an important role, as it can change the character of the asset from short term to
long term and can thereby change the taxability of the gain arising on its transfer. The following
points shall be borne in mind while calculating the period of holding of an asset:-
(a.) Liquidation of a Company: Where equity or preference shares are held in a company
and that company goes into Liquidation, the period of holding of these shares shall come
to an end, immediately on the date on which that company goes into liquidation. In other
words period subsequent to the date of liquidation of the company shall be ignored while
computing the period of holding of shares.
(b.) Amalgamation [Section 49(2)]: If two or more companies amalgamate and form a new
company, under a scheme of Amalgamation and a shareholder (assessee) of an
amalgamating company is issued new shares in amalgamated company in lieu of his/her
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shares in amalgamating company. The period of holding of these new shares in the
amalgamated company shall include the period of holding of old shares in amalgamating
company, provided that the amalgamated company is an Indian company (As if no new
shares were allotted and assessee continued holding old shares in that amalgamating
company and calculation is being made for those old shares only).
(c.) Demerger: In a similar way, when an assessee is being issued with shares in a resulting
company in lieu of his/her shares in a demerging company, under a scheme of Demerger,
the period of holding of these new shares in resulting company shall include period of
holding of shares in demerging company, provided that the resulting company is an
Indian company.
(d.) Issue of Bonus Shares: When an assessee is being issued Bonus Shares as a result of
his/her holding original shares, the period of holding of Bonus Shares shall be calculated
from the date of issue of such bonus shares. The period of holding of original shares,
shall not be included in period of holding of bonus shares.
(e.) Conversion of Debentures: When Debentures or Debenture Stock or such Deposits held
by assessee are converted into Equity Shares, the period of holding of such equity shares
shall be calculated from the date of their conversion from debenture and shall not include
the period of holding of those debenture or debenture stock.
(f.) Right Shares: When an offer is made by a company to its existing shareholders to
subscribe for right shares, which is known as ‘Right Entitlement’ and shareholder
subscribes for shares offered under right offer and such right shares are allotted to
him/her, the period of holding of such right shares shall be calculated from the date of
allotment of such right shares and not from the date on which the right offer is made by
the company. The period of holding of original shares shall not be added in the period of
holding of right shares.
(g.) Right Entitlement: When a ‘Right’ offer is made by a company to its existing
shareholders, it is known as ‘Right Entitlement’. Such entitlement is also a capital asset.
A Shareholder may either subscribe to such right shares offered or he may sell off that
right entitlement in the market. If he/she sells off such right entitlement, it is known as
‘Renouncement of Right Entitlement’ and one will have to calculate the profit or gain
arising on transfer of such right entitlement. The Cost of acquisition of right entitlement
shall be NIL. Period of holding of such right entitlement shall be calculated from the date
on which the company made such offer to subscribe for right shares.
(h.) Section 49(1) Transactions: Transactions, which are covered by section 49 (1) i.e.
transactions where a capital asset becomes the property of the assessee otherwise than by
way of purchase, the period of holding of the current owner (Assessee) shall include the
period for which the asset was held by its previous owner.
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(1.) Full Value of Sale Consideration: means what one receives when an asset is being
transferred, whether received immediately or receivable after some time. For Income Tax
purpose Capital Gains are chargeable to tax on accrual basis, irrespective of the method
of accounting followed by the assessee. It does not mean the market value of the asset
transferred. It may be received in cash or in kind. If it is received in kind, then market
value of what is received in kind shall be treated as a full value of sale consideration,
Book entries are irrelevant for the purpose. Adequacy or inadequacy of the consideration
is also irrelevant.
(2.) Transfer Expenses: Tansfer Expenses incurred by an assessee wholly and exclusively in
connection with the transfer of the capital asset, are allowed to be deducted from the full
value of consideration, provided such expenses are not deductible under any other head
of income, i.e. no double deduction of any expense is allowed. For e.g.: Commission,
Brokerage, Stamp Charges, Registration Charges, Travelling and Conveyance Charges,
etc. incurred in connection with the transfer of the asset. Expenses shall be real ones,
Notional Expenses are not allowed to be deducted.
(3.) Cost of Acquisition: is the price for which a capital asset is acquired by the assessee. It
even includes expenses of a capital nature for completing or acquiring a title or
ownership of a property. For e.g.: Stamp Duty, Brokerage, Commission, etc. paid while
acquiring a house property, or interest on capital borrowed for acquiring a property (only
interest incurred upto the date of acquiring the property) are all part of actual cost of
acquisition of that property. Legal expenses incurred in connection with acquisition of an
immoveable property is allowed to be capitalized. The following additional points
regarding cost of acquisition shall be worth noting:-
Cost of Acquisition of an ‘Intangible Asset’: [like Patent, Goodwill of a
Business (of Business only and not a Goodwill of a Profession) or Copyright,
Trademark, Brand Name, Tenancy Rights, Loom Hours, Right to Carry on
Business, Right to Manufacture any Article or a Thing, etc.] As per section
55(2a), if such intangible asset is Self-Generated (Self-Developed) then the cost
of acquisition is always to be taken as NIL or ZERO. But if these assets are not
self-generated and are purchased by the assessee from somebody, then cost of
acquisition of such asset in the hands of the assessee shall be the actual amount
paid by the assessee towards acquiring it.
In case of transactions covered by section 49(1), i.e. a case where capital asset is
received by assessee free of cost by way of Gift, Will, Inheritance, the Cost of
Acquisition in the hands of the current owner of the asset i.e. in the hands of the
assessee, shall be the cost of acquisition to the previous owner of that asset. In
case where, the previous owner acquired such asset before 01st April, 1981, then
cost of acquisition in the hands of the current owner shall be either the cost of
acquisition of that asset in the hands of the previous owner of that asset or Fair
Market Value (F.M.V.) of such asset as on 01st April, 1981, whichever is higher.
As per section 49(2), the Cost of acquisition of shares in an Amalgamated
Company (New Company) received by the assessee in lieu of his shares in
Amalgamating Company (Old Company) under a scheme of amalgamation, shall
be same as the cost of acquisition of shares of amalgamated company (old
company). For e.g.: If assessee acquired 1,000 shares in ABC Ltd. @ Rs. 10/- per
share (i.e. Rs. 10,000/- total investment made). ABC Ltd. amalgamated with
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XYZ Ltd. and 500 shares of XYZ Ltd. were issued to the assessee in exchange of
1,000 shares in ABC Ltd. The cost of acquisition of 500 shares in XYZ Ltd. shall
be Rs. 10,000/- only or Rs. 20/- per share of XYZ Ltd., irrespective of the market
price of shares of XYZ Ltd.
Cost of Acquisition of shares received upon conversion of Debentures: As
per section 49(2), where Debentures, Debenture Stock or any Deposit
Certificates are converted into Equity or Preference Shares, the cost of
acquisition of these new shares shall be same as the cost of acquisition of
Debentures, Debenture Stock or Deposit Certificates. If these Debentures,
Debenture Stock or Deposit Certificates are partly converted into Equity or
Preference Shares and balance part is redeemed for cash, then cost of acquisition
of new shares shall be the proportionate cost of acquiring Debentures, Debenture
Stock or Deposit Certificates. For e.g.: If 60 % of a 100/- Rs. Debenture is
converted into 5 equity shares and balance 40 % is redeemed for cash, then cost
of acquisition of these 5 shares shall be Rs.60/- in total or Rs. 12/- per share, i.e.
60 % of the cost of acquisition of one debenture.
As per section 55(2aa), the Cost of Acquisition of Bonus shares, allotted before
01st April, 1981 shall be the Fair Market Value of such shares as on 01st April,
1981. But if Bonus Shares are being allotted on or after 01st April, 1981, then the
cost of acquisition of such Bonus shares shall always be taken as NIL.
As per section 55(2aa), the Cost of Acquisition of Right Entitlement shall be
NIL.
As per section 55(2aa), the Cost of Acquisition of Right Shares in the hands of
the assessee, shall be the amount actually paid by him/her to the company for
acquiring such right shares. But if such right shares are not being subscribed for,
but are renounced by the assessee in favour of another person and when such
other person i.e. transferee of the right entitlement, subscribes for right shares,
then the cost of acquisition of right shares in the hands of such person shall be the
amount actually paid him/her to the company towards right shares plus amount
paid by him/her to the transferor of right entitlement towards right entitlement.
As per section 55(2b), the Cost of acquisition of a Capital Asset acquired
before 01st April, 1981 shall be either the actual cost of acquisition or its Fair
Market Value as on 01st April, 1981, whichever is higher. This option of
substituting original cost by Fair Market Value as on 01st April, 1981, is however
not applicable in case of Depreciable Assets (u/s 50A), or any intangible asset
like Goodwill of Business, Trademark, Brand-name, Tenancy Rights, Loom
Hours, Stage Carriage permit, Route permit.
(2.) Cost of Improvement [C.O.I.] [Section 55(1)]: C.O.I in relation to any tangible asset
means all expenses of a capital nature, incurred in connection with an Addition,
Alteration, Modification, or Rectification to the tangible asset. For e.g.: A Building
consisting of three floors was acquired by an assessee for Rs. 50 Lacs in 1992. In 1995
assessee spent Rs. 8 Lacs and constructed the fourth floor. In this case Rs. 50 Lacs is the
cost of acquisition of the building, whereas Rs. 8 Lacs is the cost of improvement.
Cost of Improvement is allowed to be deducted only if it is not deductible
under any other head of income. In other words, no double deduction is allowed.
C.O.I. of two Intangible Assets viz. (i.) Goodwill of a Business (and not a
Goodwill of a Profession) whether self-generated or not and (ii.) Right to carry on
any business, or a Right to Manufacture or Produce any Article or a Thing, is
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always to be taken as NIL or ZERO. Whereas, C.O.I. of any other intangible assets
like Patent, Copyright, Brand Name, Trademark, Tenancy Rights, Loom Hours,
Stage/Carriage Permit, Route Permit, shall be the actual cost of improvement
incurred on such assets.
However, Cost of Improvement for any asset incurred before 01st April,
1981, shall always be taken as NIL. This can be better explained with the help
of the following chart:-
SECTION 55(1)
COST OF IMPROVEMENT
ALWAYS NIL
INCURRED BEFORE INCURRED ON OR AFTER
1ST APRIL, 1981 1ST APRIL, 1981
INDEXATION: Indexation is only for the purpose of calculating Long Term Capital Gain/Loss
and shall not be used for calculating Short Term Capital Gain/Loss. In case of a Long Term
Capital Asset, the Cost of Acquisition or Cost of Improvement is required to be indexed. In other
words, the original Cost of Acquisition or original Cost of Improvement of a Long Term Capital
Asset shall not be taken at their respective original values, but shall be adjusted for rise in the rate
of inflation in the country from the year of incurring the cost of acquisition or cost of
improvement till the year of transfer of such Long Term Capital Asset, as per the Index numbers
for each such relevant Previous Years, issued by the Central Government in this behalf by way of
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a notification in the Official Gazette. Such Index numbers are called “Cost Inflation Index”
(C.I.I.) numbers. Such Cost Inflation Index numbers are issued by Central Government, having
regard to 75 % of average rise in the consumer price index of urban non-manual employees for
the immediately preceding Previous Year. Concept of Indexation was introduced by the Central
Government for the first time with effect from Assessment Year 1993-1994, by considering
Previous Year 1981-1982 as the Base Year. Such Cost Inflation Index numbers are issued for
Previous Years or Financial Years and not for Assessment Years. The Cost Inflation Index (CII)
numbers issued up till now are as follows:-
1981-1982 100
1982-1983 109
1983-1984 116
1984-1985 125
1985-1986 133
1986-1987 140
1987-1988 150
1988-1989 161
1989-1990 172
1990-1991 182
1991-1992 199
1992-1993 223
1993-1994 244
1994-1995 259
1995-1996 281
1996-1997 305
1997-1998 331
1998-1999 351
1999-2000 389
2000-2001 406
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2001-2002 426
2002-2003 447
2003-2004 463
2004-2005 480
2005-2006 497
2006-2007 519
2007-2008 551
2008-2009 582
2009-2010 632
Note: Such C.I.I. numbers are issued for Previous Years or Financial Years, starting form the
Year 1981-1982, which is the Base Year. Students are expected to remember the C.I.I. number
only for the years 1981-1982 and for the year 2009-2010 i.e. for the first and the last year and not
for any other year. For any other year C.I.I. number would be provided in the examination. Cost
Inflation Index numbers are generally notified by the central government within few months from
the declaration of the Financial Budget of the relevant financial year.
Cost Inflation Index numbers are applicable to the whole financial year, irrespective of the
date of acquisition or transfer of the asset.
As an impact of allowing indexation, the cost of acquisition or cost of improvement
increases as compared to its original value and thereby it reduces the Long Term Capital Gain and
as a result of this the tax on Long Term Capital Gain also gets reduced. Therefore ‘Indexation’ is
considered to be a benefit given to the assesees by the Income Tax Act, 1961.
Formula for finding out Indexed Cost of Acquisition or Indexed Cost of Improvement:
Indexed Cost of Acquisition of a Long Term Capital Asset or its Indexed Cost of Improvement,
can be found out by applying the following formula:-
Indexed Cost of Improvement can also be found out by applying the same formula, where the
term ‘Cost of Acquisition’ used in the above formula will be replaced by the term ‘Cost of
Improvement’, while finding out Indexed Cost of Improvement.
Example of Indexation: Mr. X had acquired a House Property in the year1984-1985, for Rs.
1,00,000/- and sold it off in the year 2003-2004 for Rs. 5,00,000/-. Calculate the Capital
Gain/Loss for Mr. X if CII for 1984-85 is 125 and for 2003-2004 is 463.
Answer: In this example the original cost of acquisition of the asset is Rs. 1,00,000/- which is
required to be indexed as the period of holding of the house property is more than 36 months and
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the asset is a Long Term Capital Asset. This cost of acquisition will be indexed by applying the
above formula. Therefore the Indexed cost of acquisition will be Rs. 1,00,000/- X 463/125 = Rs.
3,70,400/-
And Long Term Capital Gain will be the difference between the Sale Proceeds and the Indexed
Cost of Acquisition i.e. Rs. 5,00,000/- less Rs. 3,70,400/- = Rs. 1,29,600/-.
Students shall note the fact that if the benefit of indexation was not available, then Long Term
Capital Gain in this case would have been the difference between the Sale Proceeds and the
original coat of acquisition of the asset i.e. Rs. 5,00,000/- less Rs. 1,00,000/- = Rs. 4,00,000/-
as compared to Rs. 1,29,600/- as computed above.
Exceptions to the concept of Indexation: In the case of following Long Term Capital Assets,
the benefit of Indexation shall not be available. In other words, though the asset is a Long Term
Capital Asset, the calculation of any gain/loss thereon will be computed just like the way it would
be computed had it been a Short Term Capital Asset, without indexing the Cost of Acquisition or
Cost of Improvement:-
(1.) Any Bonds or Debentures, whether listed on any recognized Stock exchange or not,
except of Capital Indexed Bonds, issued by Central Government.
(2.) Depreciable Assets as are governed by Section 50A of the act. (to be dealt with
separately)
(3.) Transfer of entire Undertaking or an entire Division of the assessee by way of “Slump
Sale” as governed by Section 50B.
Except of the above three exceptions, the benefit of Indexation will be available in case all
the Long Term Capital Assets.
Different Formulas for Indexation: An asseessee may have acquired a capital asset under
following five different situations. Depending upon the situation, the formula for indexing the
cost of acquisition would differ:-
(A.) Capital Asset acquired by assessee himself/herself before 01st April, 1981.
(B.) Capital Asset acquired by assessee himself/herself on or after 01st April, 1981.
(C.) Capital Asset is acquired by assessee from its previous owner under transactions
covered by section 49 (1), where asset was acquired by its previous owner before
01st April, 1981 and assessee also acquired from previous owner before 01st April,
1981.
(D.) Capital Asset is acquired by assessee from its previous owner under transactions
covered by section 49 (1), where asset was acquired by its previous owner before
01st April, 1981 but assessee acquired from previous owner on or after 01st April,
1981.
(E.) Capital Asset is acquired by assessee from its previous owner under transactions
covered by section 49 (1), where asset was acquired by its previous owner after
01st April, 1981 and assessee also acquired from previous owner after 01st April,
1981.
The basic formula of indexation remains the same, but the numerator and
denominator for CII would differ under all the five situations mentioned as above. This
can be better explained with the help of the following table:-
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F.M.V. of the
Capital Asset acquired Asset as on Actual Cost of CII of the year
by Previous Owner as 01/04/1981 Improvement
well as by Assessee OR
(C) Cost of CII of the
(ignoring __of Transfer_
both before 01/04/1981 acquisition year of any cost of X CII of the
to the Previous X _ transfer_ improvement year
Owner whichever CII of incurred before of
is higher 1981-1982 01/04/1981) improvement
__of Transfer_
CII of the
year
of
improvement
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Exemptions applicable in case of Capital Gains: The following exemptions are available in
respect of Capital Gains Income:-
[1.] Section 10 (37): Income from Capital Gain on Transfer of Agricultural Land: Only in
the case of an assessee being an Individual or a Hindu Undivided Family, any Capital Gain
arising on transfer of an Agricultural Land situated in a specified area (Urban Area) and used by
that individual or his/her parents or by HUF for agricultural purposes, shall be exempt from its
chargeability to Income Tax under section 10 (37), provided impugned Agricultural Land was
compulsorily acquired by Government under any Law in force or sale consideration of such
Agricultural Land was determined by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) or by Central Government.
This exemption was being introduced with effect from Assessment Year 2005-2006 and exempts
only those Capital Gains, which have arisen on sale consideration received on or after 01st April,
2004.
[2.] Section 10(38): Long Term Capital Gain on transfer of Listed Securities: Any Long
Term Capital Gain (Only Long Term Capital Gains and not Short Term Capital Gains) arising on
transfer of Equity Shares of a Company listed on a Recognized Stock Exchange in India or Units
of Equity Oriented Mutual Fund, shall be exempt by virtue of Section 10(38), provided transfer
has taken place through a Recognized Stock Exchange and such transaction of sale attracts
Securities Transaction Tax (S.T.T.). Section 10(38) has been introduced with effect from
01/10/2004.
PARTICULARS AMOUNT
Opening Written Down Value (WDV) of the entire Block of Asset XXX
ADD: Actual Cost of acquisition of any new asset, falling within
The same Block, acquired during the relevant Previous Year XXX
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The only thing that is different here is the cost of acquisition of the asset (asset here
would mean the entire Block and not only that individual asset that is being transferred). The cost
of acquisition here will be the cost of acquisition of the entire Block as shown above. The Gain or
Loss arising on transfer of a Depreciable asset shall always be Short Term Capital Gain/Loss
irrespective of whether the asset or the Block was held for a period of 36 months or less before it
was being transferred. The Capital Gain/Loss will be computed as shown below:-
In simple words, the following points shall be kept in mind, while calculating Capital Gain in
case of Depreciable Assets:-
[B.] Stamp Duty Valuation: [Section 50C]: This section applies only to transfer of ‘Land’,
‘Building’ or both and not to any other asset transferred. Many assesses were found to be
evading Income Tax, by declaring lower ‘sale consideration’ on sale of their House Property,
in their Income Tax Return and thereby reducing their Capital Gain and Income Tax on such
Capital Gains. For e.g.: An assessee sold his House Property for Rs. 50 Lacs but entered into
agreement with the buyer of the property for an amount of Rs. 20 Lacs only. He accepted the
cheque for Rs. 20 Lacs and balance Rs. 30 Lacs was accepted by him by way of cash which
was not declared by him. In this case he suppressed his sale consideration from Rs. 50 Lacs
to Rs. 20 Lacs. Assuming the Indexed cost of acquisition of the said property to be Rs. 13
Lacs, the assessee is liable to pay tax on Capital Gain of Rs. 37 Lacs (Rs. 50 Lacs less Rs. 13
Lacs) but he would compute his Long Term Capital Gain as Rs. 7 Lacs only (Rs. 20 Lacs less
Rs. 13 Lacs) and thereby he would evade tax on capital gain of Rs. 30 Lacs (Rs. 37 Lacs less
Rs. 7 Lacs). In order to curb such tax evasion practices followed by assesses, section 50 C
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was introduced to standardize the amount of sale consideration in case of transfer of Land or
Building or both.
Section 50 C is the deeming provision of the act. According to section 50 C, the
value of sale consideration of an asset being Land, building or Land plus Building shall be
deemed to be the value of that asset adopted for the purpose of payment of Stamp Duty on
that asset, irrespective of the actual amount of sale consideration of that asset. (Stamp Duty is
required to be paid as a percentage on a predetermined value of the property, determined by
the Stamp Value Authorities, irrespective of the market value of that property). This is
applicable, whether the asset is a Long Term Asset or a Short Term Asset. In the above
example, if the value of the House Property adopted by Stamp Value Authority is Rs. 51
Lacs, then assessee will have to calculate Capital Gain/Loss, considering Rs. 51 Lacs to be
the sale consideration of the property, irrespective of the fact that he actually sold the
property for Rs. 50 Lacs only. This section has a very harsh implication on genuine
taxpayers. Valuation done by Stamp Value Authorities is not updated on a time-to-time basis.
Eventually in a Bullish Economic Trend, the value adopted by Stamp Value Authority will be
higher than the actual market value of the property. In such a situation if an assessee sells
his/her property at market price, which will be lower than the Stamp Duty Value, then also
he/she will have to end up paying income tax on a higher capital gain, which would be
calculated applying Stamp Duty Value. Assessee will have to pay tax even on an amount,
which was never received by him/her.
But Income Tax Act has taken care of such situations also. In a case, where an
assessee claims that the sale consideration received by him/her or the market value of the
asset is less than the value adopted by Stamp Value Authorities, then based on the claim of
the assessee, the Assessing Officer may refer the entire valuation to an Officer of the
Department called “Valuation Officer”, who shall investigate in the matter and submit his
valuation report to the assessing officer. In such a case where, the matter is being referred to
the valuation officer, the value reported by such officer in his report or the Stamp Duty
Value, whichever is less, shall be adopted as the value of the property.
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(a.) When a Partner transfers a Capital Asset to the Firm as his capital contribution:
[Section 45(3)]:
♦ Introducing a Capital Asset by a partner to the firm, as his capital contribution
amounts to transfer of that asset. Capital Gain will have to be computed in the
hands of the partner.
♦ The Capital Gain will be computed in a normal way only, as would have
otherwise been computed.
♦ Since, partner is transferring his asset to the firm free of cost as his capital
contribution, i.e. the partner is not receiving anything from the firm for
transferring the asset, the ‘Sale Consideration’ will be missing.
♦ The Amount recorded by the firm in its Books of Accounts will be assumed to
be the Sale Consideration of such Asset.
(b.) When a Firm transfers or distributes a Capital Asset to Partner, upon its Dissolution or
otherwise: [Section 45(4)]:
♦ It amounts to transfer of Capital Asset for the Firm Capital Gain will have to be
computed in the hands of the Firm.
♦ Since, the firm is transferring the asset to its partners free of cost, i.e. the firm is
not receiving anything from the partner for transferring the asset, the ‘Sale
Consideration’ will be missing.
♦ The FMV of the asset as on the date of its transfer will be deemed to be the
‘Sale Consideration’ in the hands of the Firm.
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♦ The Cost of Acquisition and the Cost of Improvement will be taken as NIL, as
these costs were already allowed as a deduction from the initial compensation.
♦ However, litigation / legal expenses incurred to get the compensation enhanced
will be allowed as a deduction in the form of ‘Transfer Expenses’.
♦ Such Capital Gain will be Short Term or Long Term depending upon whether the
original capital gain was short term or long term.
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(b.) In case of any other Asset other than Shares and Debentures of Indian Company acquired
by Non-Resident: In case of any other Asset other than Shares and Debentures of Indian
Company acquired by Non-Resident, the above-mentioned procedure mentioned in point
no. (a.) above, shall not apply, the Capital Gains shall be computed in an absolutely
normal way, the way it would have been calculated otherwise for a resident assessee. The
benefit of Indexation will be available for other assets. There shall be no requirement to
convert the Sale Consideration or the Cost of Acquisition from Indian Currency to
Foreign Currency. The Capital Gain or Loss shall be computed in Indian Currency only.
CH-9
INCOME FROM OTHER SOURCES
(SEC 56 AND 57)
Any income which is not chargeable to tax under Section 15, 22, 28, or 45, will
be chargeable to tax as Income from Other Sources (IFOS) i.e. any income not taxable
under the head Income from Salary, House Property, Business/Profession or Capital
Gains, is chargeable to tax as Income from Other Sources. Thus, it is a ‘Residual’ head of
income.
Section 56 (2): Under Section 56 (2), the items that are mentioned as taxable under this
head are as follows:-
1. Interest on Securities, provided Securities are held as Investment and not as Stock-in-
trade. (If they are held as Stock-in-Trade, then interest therefrom will be chargeable to tax
as income from Business or Profession and not as income from Other Sources).
2. Rent from Letting out of Plant & Machinery, Furniture.
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3. Composite Rent (Combined Rent) from Letting out of Building, along with Plant &
Machinery or other assets. For e.g.: Composite rent from letting out of a Cinema Building
together with chairs, projectors and other furniture will be entirely chargeable as income
from Other Sources.
4. Dividend from shares of a Foreign Company or from shares of a Co-Operative Society.
[Dividend from shares of an Indian Company is exempt from tax by virtue of section 10
(34), if it was not exempt, then it would have been chargeable to tax as income from
Other Sources.]
5. Any sum received as contribution by assessee from his employee towards any Staff
Welfare Scheme. Initially when an employer receives any contribution from his
employees towards any Staff Welfare Scheme, it becomes an income in his hand and
later on when he deposits such sum in the respective fund, it is allowed as a deduction to
him from his income as an allowable business expenditure, subject to the provisions of
section 43B.
6. Any sum received under a ‘Keyman Insurance Policy (KIP)’ including any Bonus
therein.
7. Winnings from Lotteries, Puzzles, Crosswords, Card games, any other game of any sort,
Races including Horse Races or from Betting or Gambling. (Only Winnings from such
activities and not business income generated out such activities. For e.g.: Income from
Agency Commission on selling of Lottery Tickets will not be taxable as IFOS, but will
be separately taxable as income from Business /Profession).
8. Any Gift in cash (only cash and no other asset whether moveable or immoveable)
exceeding Rs. 50,000/- received by an Individual or a Hindu Undivided Family on or
after 01-09-2004, without any consideration from any person. However, following
receipts of cash shall not be regarded as an income:
(a.) Cash received from any person on occasion of Marriage (only Marriage and no other
function like Birthday Party or Engagement),
(b.) Cash received in contemplation death of the donor,
(c.) Cash received under a Will or Inheritance,
(d.) Cash received from a Relative, where the term ‘Relative’ would mean:
Θ Spouse of the Individual,
Θ Brother or Sister of the Individual,
Θ Brother or Sister of the Spouse of the Individual,
Θ Spouse of Brother or Sister of the Individual,
Θ Spouse of Brother or Sister of the Spouse of the Individual,
Θ Parents of the Individual,
Θ Brother or Sister of the Parents of the Individual, or their spouse,
Θ Any lineal ascendant or descendant of the individual,
Θ Spouse of any lineal ascendant or descendant of the individual
For e.g.: Mr. A received Rs. 17,000/- each from his three friends Mr. X, Y
and Z on 12/09/2009, then entire amount of Rs. 51,000/- (and not only the
amount in excess Rs. 50,000/-) will be chargeable to tax in the hands of
Mr. A, under the head Income from Other Sources.
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For e.g.: Mr. A received Rs. 51,000/- from his friend Mr. X on 12/09/2006, then entire amount of
Rs. 51,000/- (and not only the amount in excess Rs. 50,000/-) will be chargeable to tax in the
hands of Mr. A, under the head Income from Other Sources.
Anything which is received in kind having ‘money’s worth’ i.e. Property was outside the
purview of the existing provisions. Therefore Section 56 was amended w.e.f. 01/10/2009, to
provide that the value of any property received without consideration or for inadequte
consideration will also be included in the computation of total income of the recipient as
follows:- [Such properties will include immovable property being Land or Building or both,
Shares and Securities, Jewellery, Archaeological Collections, Drawings, Paintings,
Sculptures or any Work of Art.]
[A.] In case of an Immovable Property: (i.) In a case where an immovable property is received
without consideration and the stamp duty value of such property exceeds Rs. 50,000/-, the whole
of the stamp duty value of such property shall be taxed as the income of the recipient.
(ii.) If an immovable property is received for a consideration which is less than the
stamp duty value of such property and the difference between the two, exceeds Rs. 50,000/- (an
inadequate consideration), then the excess of stamp duty value of such property over such
consideration shall be taxed as the income of the recipient.
(If the stamp duty value of immovable property is disputed by the assessee, the Assessing Officer
may refer the valuation of such property to a Valuation Officer. In such cases, the provisions of
existing section 50C and sub-section (15) of section 155 of the Income Tax Act shall, as far as
may be, apply for determining the value of such property.)
[B.] In case of a Movable Property: (i.) In a case where movable property is received without
consideration and the aggregate fair market value (FMV) of such property
exceeds Rs. 50,00/-, the whole of the FMV of such property shall be taxed as the income of the
recipient.
(ii.) If a movable property is received for a consideration which is less than the FMV of
such property and the difference between the two exceeds Rs. 50,000/- (i.e. for an inadequate
consideration), then the excess of the FMV of such property over such consideration shall be
taxed as the income of the recipient.
It is also proposed to provide that,—
(i) the value of movable property shall be the fair market value as on the date of receipt in
accordance with the method prescribed; and
(ii) in the case of an immovable property, the value of the property shall be the ‘stamp duty value’
of the property.
This amendment will take effect from 1st October, 2009 and will accordingly apply for
transactions undertaken on or after such date.
NOTE:
(1.) One shall borne in mind that all the incomes discussed above, will be taken as
income from other sources only when the same is not taxable under any of the
other four heads of income, except of Dividend income and Winnings from
Lotteries, Puzzles, Card Games, Gambling, Betting, etc. Dividend and Winnings
are always taxable as Income from Other Sources, irrespective of the business of
the assessee.
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(2.) All those incomes, which are chargeable to tax as income from Other Sources,
are chargeable to tax either on ‘Due’ basis or on ‘Receipt’ basis, depending upon
the method of accounting regularly followed by the assessee, except of
‘Dividend’ income. Dividend income is always chargeable to tax on ‘Due’ basis,
irrespective of the method of accounting followed by the assessee.
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19. Interest on Refund of Income Tax, received from Income Tax Department.
(However, the Principal amount of Income Tax Refund is not taxable – only
interest on such refund is taxable)
Section 57: The following Deductions are permissible under the head Income from Other
Sources (IFOS):
# List of incomes exempted from tax under section 10 from this head:
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CH-10
DEDUCTIONS UNDER CHAPTER VI A
(SECTION 80C TO SECTION 80U)
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applicable for our syllabus, namely, (1) u/s 80C, (2) u/s 80CCC, (3) u/s 80D, (4) u/s
80DD, (5) u/s 80E and (6) u/s 80U.
While dealing with any of the above five deductions, one must mainly observe
the following points regarding each deduction, so that one can easily remember all of
them:-
What should be the Residential Status of the Assessee in order to be eligible for
the deduction, i.e. whether the deduction is available to ‘Resident and Ordinarily
Residents (R.O.R.)’ only or is it available to ‘Resident but not Ordinarily Resident
(R.N.O.R.)’ and ‘Non-Residents (N.R.)’ also?
What is the quantum of the deduction i.e. what is the maximum deductible
amount under each section?
Any other specific condition attached to each section subject to fulfillment of
which deduction shall be available.
The total of all the deductions under this chapter shall be restricted to the
maximum of ‘Adjusted Gross Total Income’, where ‘Adjusted Gross Total Income’
would mean [Gross Total Income i.e. G.T.I.] less [‘Long Term Capital Gains’ and
‘Winnings from Lotteries, Puzzles, Crossword, Betting, Gambling, etc.’]. In other words,
total of deductions shall not exceed the Adjusted Gross Total Income and Gross Total
Income shall not become negative due to deductions. There shall be no ‘Refund of Tax’
arising due to deductions.
Certain deductions are based on ‘Incomes’ whereas, few are based on
‘Expenses’. Let us now consider all the six deductions separately to have a better
understanding of all of them.
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The amount of deduction under this section shall be the lower of the following two:-
• The total of the amount actually Paid / Deposited / Invested in all or any of the
above, or
• Rs. 1,00,000/-
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case, the assessee himself/herself need not be a senior citizen or a resident, only the
person on whose health the medicalim premium is being paid shall be a resident
senior citizen. (‘Senior Citizen’ means, a person who is at least of 65 years of age, at
anytime during the Previous Year)
The following further points shall be noted in this regard:-
• Mediclaim Premium should have been paid out of taxable income of the
assessee, whether out of taxable income of the current year or out of the
taxable income of any other year.
• Mediclaim Premium should have been paid by way of any mode other than by
way of Cash. If it is paid out of cash, then no deduction under this section
shall be available.
• W.e.f. A.Y. 2009-10, if assessee pays Mediclaim Premium for his parents,
(whether dependent upon him or not), then he will get an additional deduction
of Rs. 15,000/- u/s 80D. If parents are Senior Citizen, then the amount of
additional deduction will be Rs. 20,000/- instead of Rs. 15,000/-. (Naturally,
this additional deduction will be either Rs. 15,000/- or Rs. 20,000/- as the case
may be or the actual amount of Mediclaim Premium paid for parents,
whichever is less)
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(5.) Under Section 80E: Deduction on account payment of Interest on Loan taken
for Higher Education:
(a.) This deduction is available only to ‘Individuals’ whether Resident or Non-Resident.
(b.) This deduction is available on account of payment of interest on Loan taken for
Higher Education. (only for payment of ‘interest’ and not for repayment of ‘Principal’
amount of loan).
(c.) There’s no upper limit on the amount of deduction. Therefore, unlimited amount of
deduction can be claimed.
(d.) However, the deduction is allowable only for a period of eight consecutive
(continuous) years starting from the year in which assessee starts paying interest for the
first time.
(e.) The Loan should have been taken for ‘Higher Education’, whether in India or outside
India.
(f.) ‘Higher Education’ means any full time educational course after HSC (XIIth),
whether it leads to any degree or not. (Even any ‘vocational course’ or a ‘Diploma
course’ will also be eligible). It should be in the field of Engineering, Medicine,
Applied/Pure Science, Management, Mathematics, Statistics, Information Technology.
(g.) The Loan should have been taken by assessee:-
-- for Self, or
-- for his/her spouse, or
-- for children
(h.) The loan should have been taken from any Bank or a notified Financial Institution or
any approved Charitable Institution.
(i.) This deduction is allowable on payment basis only. In simple words, no deduction
will be allowed if interest on educational loan has just accrued, but has not yet been paid.
It will be allowed as a deduction only if it has been paid during the given year. If interest
for the current year amounts to Rs. 82,000/-, out of which only Rs. 50,000/- has been
paid, then deduction under this section will be only for Rs. 50,000/-.
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