This pertains to the Question asked by me on 13.02.2023. The Expert needed clarity on three aspects:- 1. Whether this was an agricultural land? Ans. Yes, it is an ancestral agricultural land, in village. 2. What is the distance of the land from the nearest municipality jurisdiction? Ans. The nearest municipality jurisdiction is the District Headquarter at a distance of around 30 KM. 3. What is the population of the place where the land is located? Ans The population is around 1500. Kindly guide on the original queries in light with the above points. How does my father declare the amount in his Income Tax Return and what sort of tax he needs to pay on the total amount received. What will be the tax liability for us brothers on the amount received from him. Whether all three of us (my father & we two brothers) are free to spend the amount as deemed fit OR are we required to invest it in a particular way only. What happens if the amount is transferred to both his Daughter In Laws (non tax payer). Any other suggestion. Regards Rajan

Ans: Hi Kedarji
Based on your question, apparently on property records, your mother-in-law is the owner of the land. I do not wish to get into the legal heirship aspect of the land post your father-in-law's demise and hence i would restrict my answer within the perspective of your query.

As your MIL is the legal owner and she is the person selling the land, she will be the person liable to tax for the capital gain arising on sale of the NA land.

The distribution of the net sale proceeds to the 3 daughters could be treated as gift backed up with the relevant paper work such as executing the gift deed etc., to ensure that there is no further taxability to the 3 daughters

Ans: Hi Rajan

As the owner of the land is your father, the taxability would apply to him alone and not to you or your brother.

The query would need further clarity in terms of the following aspects:

Whether this was an agricultural land?
What is the distance of the land from the nearest municipality jurisdiction?
What is the population of the place where the land is located?

In case this is an urban non-agricultural land then you may need to get the valuation report for the land as on April 1, 2001 from an Income Tax approved valuer. This would become your basic cost reference on which you would need to apply indexation. An example is stated below for easy understanding.

Suppose the valuation report brings out a value of Rs. 20 Lakhs as on April 1, 2001

Current Cost Inflation Index (CII) is 331 and base year (2001) index is 100

So indexed cost of acquisition would be Rs. 20 Lakhs x 331 / 100, which is Rs. 66.20 Lakhs

So capital gain would be Rs. 75 Lakhs - Rs. 66.20 Lakhs = Rs. 8.80 Lakhs on which your father would need to pay 20+% of tax.

As this is a regular asset, in case he wants to pay NIL tax then he would need to reinvest the full sale consideration in some eligible asset such as residential house or capital gains bonds (go-downs / shops are not eligible assets).

If he reinvests in eligible asset partially then he would get exemption only proportionately. Taking the same example:

Suppose he reinvests Rs. 50 Lakhs in capital gain bond (say NHAI or REC) then the eligible proportionate exemption would be as follows:

Rs. 50 Lakhs / Rs. 75 Lakhs x Rs. 8.80 Lakhs = Rs. 5.87 Lakhs

He would need to pay the 20+% tax on Rs. 2.93 Lakhs. He would be eligible to marginal relief provisions if his pension income is not substantial. Also, he may end up with Nil tax if his total income is below Rs. 5 Lakhs