Taxpayer co-owning more than one home can claim benefit

According to the Mumbai branch of the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), co-ownership of more than one residential property does not prevent a taxpayer from requesting a tax exemption on long- term capital gains. As investments are usually made in joint names in large families, this judgement, made within the ambit of Section 54F of the Income-tax (I-T) Act, will be advantageous to several taxpayers. When selling capital assets (other than a home), such as jewellery or stocks, the taxpayer may be eligible for a tax exemption under Section 54F on the resulting long-term capital gains. There is no tax obligation if the entire net sale consideration is used to fund the purchase or building of a residential property within the allotted time frame. The tax exemption is granted proportionately when only a portion of the sale consideration is put towards real estate. The requirement that the taxpayer not hold more than one residential property as of the date of sale of the long-term capital asset is one of the eligibility requirements outlined in Section 54F. In other words, the only home that can be possessed is the one that was built or brought into existence for the purpose of claiming the exemption.