Case Law Details
Mustansir I Tehsildar Vs. ITO (ITAT Mumbai)
Acquisition of flat in under construction building should be considered as Construction and not Purchase
Hon’ble Bombay High Court has held in the case of Mrs. Hilla J B Wadia (supra) has held that booking of flat in an apartment under construction must also be viewed as a method of constructing residential tenements. Accordingly, the co-ordinate bench has taken the view in the case of Sagar Nitin Parikh (supra) that booking of flat in an apartment under construction is a case of “Construction”. In view of the above said decision of the Hon’ble Bombay High Court and Tribunal, the acquisition of new flat in an apartment under construction should be considered as a case of “Construction” and not “Purchase”. Accordingly we set aside the view taken by the tax authorities and hold that the assessee has constructed a flat and the provisions of sec. 54 should be applied accordingly.
Commencement of construction is not relevant for the purpose of sec. 54 and it is only the completion of construction
Section 54 of the Act provides the condition that the construction of new residential house should be completed within 3 years from the date of transfer of old residential house. According to Ld A.R, section 54 is silent about commencement of construction and hence commencement of construction can precede the date of sale of old asset. In the instant case, the assessee had booked the flat much prior to the date of old flat. We notice that the Hon’ble Karnataka High Court has held in the case of CIT Vs. J.R.Subramanya Bhat (supra) that commencement of construction is not relevant for the purpose of sec. 54 and it is only the completion of construction. The above said ratio was followed in the case of Asst. CIT Vs. Subhash Sevaram Bhavnani (2012)(23 taxmann.com 94)(Ahd. Trib.). Both these cases support the contentions of the assessee. Accordingly, for the purpose of sec. 54 of the Act, we have to see whether the assessee has completed the construction within three years from the date of transfer of old asset. In the instant case, there is no dispute that the assessee took possession of the new flat within three years from the date of sale of old residential flat. Accordingly, we are of the view that the assessee has complied with the time limit prescribed u/s 54 of the Act. Since the amount invested in the new flat prior to the due date for furnishing return of income was more than the amount of capital gain, the requirements of depositing any money under capital gains account scheme does not arise in the instant case. Further, the Hon’ble High Court has held in the case of K.C.Gopalan that there is no requirement that the sale proceeds realized on sale of old residential house alone should be utilized.
Please become a Premium member. If you are already a Premium member, login here to access the full content.
Author Bio
INSTANT
Looking from a different perspective: Should the view the ITAT has taken been carried forward to its logical conclusion, does it not necessarily follow that the concept of “Deemed Works Contract” , – on the basis of which levy of ST/GST on under- construction building property is being pursued, cannot but be regarded to have no merits – legality or legitimacy, whatsoever ?!