Answer: As per the income tax laws any house or land becomes a long-term capital asset if the same is held for 24 months or more. One can claim exemption against long-term capital gains arising from the sale of residential houses and land respectively under sections 54 and 54F by investing in a residential house. If you sell land and building before it becomes a long-term capital asset, the profits are taxed as short-term capital gain and taxed like your regular income.
For claiming long-term capital gains exemption under Section 54 arising from the sale of a residential house, you are required to invest only the capital gains computed by reducing the indexed cost of the house from the net sale consideration. In order to claim a long-term capital gain exemption under Section 54F on the sale of plots of land, you are required to invest in the net sale consideration. If full consideration is not invested, you will only get an exemption in respect of proportionate indexed long-term capital gains.
Under both these sections the investment in residential house has to be made within a period of two years from the date of sale of the respective assets. A longer period of three years is available if you go for self-construction or booking an under-construction residential house. You can even claim these exemptions in respect of a residential house purchased within one year before the sale of the assets.
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