RATIONALIZATION OF SECTION 50C

Section 50C provides that for transfer of land and building held as capital asset, if consideration is less than stamp duty, full value of consideration shall be the stamp duty value for the purpose of calculation of capital gains

However, it is noted that no relief is provided to the seller when he has entered into an agreement to sell the property much before the actual date of transfer of the immovable property and the sale consideration is fixed in such agreement.

Thus, it is proposed to amend Section 50C to provide that where the date of the agreement fixing the amount of consideration for the transfer of immovable property and the date of registration are not the same, the stamp duty value on the date of the agreement may be taken for the purposes of computing the full value of consideration.

For example, consider for a property transaction, the date of agreement between buyer and seller for sale of property is 01.04.2017 whereas the actual date of transfer and receipt of consideration is 01.06.2017. Thus, as per amended Section 50C, the stamp duty, for the purpose of computing the full value of consideration, shall be considered as on the date of agreement and not on the actual date of transfer

Further, it is proposed that amount of consideration, in full or part, shall be paid through mode other than cash, on or before the date of the agreement for the transfer of such immovable property.

The provisions of Sec 50C have now been amended along the lines of Sec 43CA

These amendments are proposed to be made effective from the 1st day of April, 2017 and shall accordingly apply in relation to assessment year 2017-18 and subsequent years.