Anant R Gawande Vs ACIT (ITAT Mumbai)
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Mumbai Bench, has delivered a significant ruling in the case of Anant R Gawande versus the Assistant Commissioner of Income-tax (ACIT), allowing the assessee’s claim for deduction under Section 54F of the Income-tax Act, 1961. The decision clarifies the interpretation of “ownership” in jointly held properties and the timing of property acquisition for capital gains exemption.
The case pertains to the assessment year 2013-14, where Anant R Gawande, an individual deriving income from various sources including Long Term Capital Gains (LTCG), had filed his return declaring a total income of Rs. 45,03,410/-. During scrutiny, the Assessing Officer (AO) challenged Gawande’s claim for deduction under Section 54F, which exempts capital gains from the sale of an original asset (other than a residential house) if the proceeds are invested in a new residential house.
The Dispute: Multiple Properties and Joint Ownership
The core of the dispute revolved around two residential properties: one purchased from India bulls Properties Ltd. (referred to as “India bulls property”) and another bungalow acquired in Pune (referred to as “Pune Abhimanshree CHS Ltd property”).
Gawande had sold a piece of land at Jambhe on July 17, 2012, against which he initially claimed Section 54F deduction for the Indiabulls property. He also claimed Section 54 deduction for the sale of a Pune Kohinoor flat on August 7, 2012. The AO discovered that Gawande had purchased the Pune Abhimanshree CHS Ltd property on May 4, 2013, within one year of selling the Jambhe land.
