What is Section 50C of the Income Tax Act?
Section 50C deals with the computation of capital gain on the sale of land or building or both, which is held as capital assets. As per this section, the value of sale consideration should not be less than the stamp duty value as assessed by the Stamp Valuation Authority. However, a marginal relief of 10% variation is allowed by the income tax department; this can be understood in the examples listed in the below questions. Section 50C is not applicable if, land or building, or both are held as stock.
What is Stamp Valuation Authority (SVA)?
The Stamp Valuation Authority is the organization that determines the stamp duty value on the registration of immovable property. Stamp duty is a tax levied on transactions related to property registration. This valuation is taken into consideration while calculating capital gains. Section 50C of the Income Tax Act uses the stamp duty value adopted by SVA as stamp duty on property registration.
Applicability of Section 50C of the Income Tax Act
Section 50C is applicable in the conditions given below:
- There is a transfer of land or building or both
- The building/land is held as a capital asset,
- It is held as either Long Term Capital Asset or Short Term Capital Asset
- The asset can be depreciable or non-depreciable.
How is Capital Gain Calculated under Section 50C of the Income Tax Act?
| Particular |
Amount |
| The full value of consideration: Sale value or stamp duty value (Higher) |
XXX |
| Less:- Expenditure in relation to the transfer |
(XXX) |
| Net Consideration |
XXX |
| Less: Cost of Acquisition |
(XXX) |
| Less: Cost of Improvement |
(XXX) |
| Capital Gain/loss |
XXX |
However, where the Stamp duty value does not exceed 110% of consideration, then sale consideration is treated as Full Value of Consideration
Example: If sale consideration is Rs. 20,00,000/-. In this case, the stamp duty value assessed by the authority is Rs. 20,50,000/-
| Particulars |
Amount |
| Sale value |
20,00,000 |
| Stamp Duty Value |
20,50,000 |
| Percentage of SDV/Sale value Acceptable Value (10% variation is allowed) |
102.5% |
| The full value of consideration will be Sale value [since SDV is not more than 110% of sale value] |
20,00,000 |
NOTE:- If, in case, the sale value would have been 15lac, i.e., variation greater than 10% from the stamp duty value, then the Full value of consideration in such case would have been 2050000 (sdv).
How is the stamp duty value calculated under section 50C?
Stamp duty value is to be taken as assessed by the Stamp Valuation Authority. However, it is quite possible that the stamp duty on the date of the agreement is different from the stamp duty value on the date of registration. In such a scenario, there are 2 possible cases:
Case 1: Take stamp duty value on the date of the agreement
- Full or part of consideration has been received up to the date of the agreement, and
- Payment has been made through account payee cheque/draft [prescribed electronic mode]
Case 2: Take stamp duty value on the date of registration
| Particulars |
Situation 1 |
Situation 2 |
Situation 3 |
| Stamp duty value on the date of the Agreement |
25,00,000 |
26,00,000 |
22,00,000 |
| Stamp duty value on the date of Registration |
28,50,000 |
30,50,000 |
28,50,000 |
| Payment of consideration |
Before the date of the agreement |
After the date of the agreement |
Before the date of the agreement |
| Mode of payment |
Cash |
A/c payee cheque |
A/c payee cheque |
| Stamp Duty value for the purpose of Section 50C |
28,50,000 |
30,50,000 |
22,00,000 |
What Can Happen if the Selling Price is Less Than the Value SVA Adopts?
Section 50C of the Income Tax Act safeguards the taxpayer against fluctuation in the value of property only when there is a significant gap between different stages of the sale of the property. In such a case, the value adopted by SVA is not considered the value for computing tax. If the date of registration of the property and the actual date of sale is not the same, the value adopted by SVA on the date of the agreement is considered the sale consideration for calculating tax.
However, this benefit is available only if at least a part of the sale consideration is received by an account payee cheque or bank draft, or ECS before the date of the property transfer.
What if the Value Set by Valuation Officer is Higher Than the Value SVA Adopts?
The valuation officer is given a reference to help taxpayers and save them from hardships to determine the market value. Even after providing this reference, the value determined by the valuation officer or adopted by SVA, whichever is lower, is taken as sales consideration for calculating capital gains.
For example, if the value adopted by SVA is Rs 12,00,000 as against Rs 8,00,000 sale consideration claimed to be received by the seller, and the value determined by the valuation officer is Rs 15,00,000, sale consideration as per Section 50C will be Rs 12,00,000.
And if the value determined by the valuation officer is Rs 10,00,000, sale consideration for the purpose of capital gains will be Rs 10,00,000.
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