Friday, January 29, 2021

Things to Avoid while Investing in Real Estate

If you were to believe the latest national news, consumer confidence is on the decline and cash deficit on builders on an incline. In Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, and other popular cities, the demand has come down to around 50% for new property launches.

But not everything in real estate is gloomy, the Reserve Bank of India has recently made a cut in policy interest rates. While this news may cause haste in investing in the sector, say in buying luxury villas in Bangalore or any other metro cities, there are some things you need to consider before making an investment. These are mentioned below for your consideration:


  • Trading in real estate properties frequently


When you trade in real estate properties more frequently – that is, buy or sell your property in shorter duration – you may incur a loss in tax benefits.

To be precise, if you sell your property within 3 years of making your real estate acquisition, such acquisition would then be called short term capital gain, which entitles you to zero tax concession or exemption.

But, if you sell your real estate property after 3 years, it entitles you to long term capital gains and the taxation for this would be at a comparatively lower rate.

Be wary that if you trade-in too many times even in long term capital gains as it could alarm your Income Tax officer, who may consider this dealing as your business income and withdraw the low rate on long term gains.


  • Investing in properties that are due completion


It’s easy for your agent or builder to make excuses for not completing their project on time and completing it at a much later date than promised. They may not have any hidden agenda behind this, except prolonging time. It means a little more number of EMIs for you than which were originally expected.

The second of the two-pronged effect of the delay is this: The tax benefits that you receive on your property investment are restrained on possession, which is a direct effect of long delays.

Being alert on investing in incomplete or overdue properties is therefore very important, at least for your pockets.



  • Planning your budget before investing


We know that if a budget is unplanned or unsupervised before investing in real estate, it may deplete most of your saved resources, back-up money, or hamper your short-term investments. It may also affect your daily expenditure and can create dearth in your cherished small purchases every now and then.

Purchasing properties not just involves a down payment but also what seems like an endless array of EMIs – directly affecting your monthly salary.

Seek the professional advice of your financial consultant before buying a real estate property. A good recommendation would be saving at least 40% of your total income after you have made your investment.


  • Considering all the factors before making your investment


As again like planning your budget, it is equally important in knowing and fully understanding all factors involved with making your investment, because knowing the loan criteria, real estate details, and repaying capacity are not adequate. Consult a financial adviser for a complete financial plan on your investment.


  • Plenty of investment in properties may not result in profits always


The best idea would be to divide your finances into different types of investments, and not just stick to investing in real estate. First, because transaction costs in real estate are much higher than say investing in gold, bank deposits, bond funds, equities, etc.

The prime reason that people choose to invest in a lump sum in properties is that their prices increase at a faster rate compared to other most forms of investments. While this may not be true always, it’s wise to be aware of the current changes or trends in the market for accurate predictions.

If you are planning to make any investment such as buying villas in Bangalore or Chennai, etc., these above-mentioned points should hopefully help you in making the right investment.


This is a guest post by Dinesh Dhawde

Friday, January 22, 2021

Looking to sell your property? Know more about Capital Gains Tax and Exemptions!

Author: Sachin Gupta | Find me on Twitter

If buying a property requires proper due-diligence to avoid unwanted hassles at a later stage, selling a property requires you to focus on Capital Gains Tax and Exemptions.

Under the Income Tax Act of 1961, Sections 45 to 55A deals with Capital Gains.



Capital Gains Tax are categorized as:


  • Short term Capital Gains (Holding period - 36 months or less)
    • A short-term capital gains/loss will be treated and taxed in the same manner as any other income/loss.
    • Short-term Capital Gains from Property sale are included in the investor's income and are taxed as per the slab rate.



  • Long term Capital Gains (Holding period - more than 36 months)

Long-term Capital Gains is computed as below:
LTCG = Full value of consideration received or accruing - (indexed cost of acquisition + indexed cost of improvement + cost of transfer + Expenditure incurred wholly and exclusively in connection with such a transfer)

Long-term capital gains are taxed at a flat rate of 20 per cent for individuals and foreign companies, and 20 per cent for domestic companies.

An example of Long Term Capital Gains Tax on Property in India:

Cost of purchasing a property in November 2008 - Rs 50 Lacs

Cost of selling the property in August 2013 - Rs 1 Crore

Inflation Index for fiscal year 2008-2009 – 582 and for fiscal year 2013-2014 - 939 (see from the attached cost inflation index chart*)

Purchase Cost after adjusting for indexation – 50 Lacs x (939/582) = Rs 80.67 Lacs

Long Term Capital Gains = 1 Crore – 80.67 Lacs = Rs 19.33 Lacs

Tax on Long Term Capital Gains = Rs 19.33 Lacs x 20% = Rs 3,86,597.90

Education Cess = 386597.90 x 3% = Rs 11597.94

Total Tax on Long Term Capital Gains = Rs 3,98,195.90


Tax exemption on Long-term Capital Gains under the following conditions:


  • If the sale relates to a property other than one residential accommodation and is reinvested in any residential property within a period of one year before or two years after the date of transfer.
  • Alternatively, such re-investment may also be in construction of a residential house within three years after the date of transfer to be eligible for claiming this benefit.
  • The house so purchased or constructed should not be transferred again within three years after the purchase or construction. Quantum of exemption will be the amount invested in the new property or the long-term capital gains, whichever is less. 

Or

If only the capital gains (and not the total sale proceeds) is invested for a period of three years in specific Bonds of National Highways Authority of India or Rural Electrification Corporation Limited or bonds redeemable after three years issued by National Housing Bank or Small Industries Development Bank of India or NABARD, as may be specified by the Government from time to time (Section 54 EC) within a period of six months from the date of transfer of the asset.

Quantum of deduction:

If the amount of capital gains is equal to or less than the cost of the new house, the entire capital gains shall be exempt.
If the amount of the capital gains is greater than the cost of the new house, then the cost of the new house shall be allowed as an exemption.

* Cost Inflation Index chart for calculations of Long Term Capital Gains Tax in India



Cost inflation index for calculations of capital gains tax in india from Green Realtech Projects Pvt. Ltd


However, Budget 2014 has altered the definition of Capital Gains Exemption. If you own a property such as ancestral home or a bigger home, and if you sell it and buy more than one smaller apartment, then, in that case, you will be exempted from Capital Gains tax on the first apartment and you are liable to pay capital gains tax on second or third apartment.

As an example, let’s say, you own a property worth Rupees 2 crores in July 2014. And you want to sell it to buy 3 smaller apartments.
Assuming, the cost of buying this property in May 2003 was Rupees 20 Lacs.
Inflation Index for fiscal year 2003-2004 – 463 and for fiscal year 2013-2014 - 939 (see from the attached cost inflation index chart*)
Purchase Cost after adjusting for indexation – 20 Lacs x (939/463) = Rs 40.56 Lacs
Long Term Capital Gains = 2 Crore – 40.56 Lacs = Rs 1.59 crore

However, if you wish to purchase 3 apartments of 65 lacs each, then, according to Budget 2014, capital gains tax exemptions will be applicable only for one residential apartment.

In other words, your Long term capital gains will be = 2 Crore – 40.56 Lacs – 65 Lacs = 94.44 Lacs
And long term Capital Gains tax will be = 94.44 Lacs x 20% = Rs. 18.89 Lacs

However, after selling your property, you invest the amount in one bigger property worth Rupees 2 crores or more, then, you will be exempted from Capital Gains.

Until this Budget, anyone in India selling immovable property, or other long-term assets and using the money to purchase a residential house within three years of the sale was not required to pay capital gains tax (20 per cent) on the sale proceeds.

But the Finance Minister has now tweaked this section to specify that only “one residential house in India” would be eligible for the tax break, instead of “a residential house”.


Source: National Housing Bank


Have any Questions?

Friday, January 8, 2021

Can an NRI Take Personal Loan in India?

Yes, NRI’s can take personal loans in India. The NRI personal loans are accessible from various banks in India. No matter what purpose is the loan offer, there are many prominent banks that offer personal loans to NRIs against fixed deposits while private part banks give NRI personal loans that might be unbound. In fact, the personal loans for NRIs are a decent alternative to get speedy financing for diverse prerequisites.

The NRI personal loans are intended to help Indians who are living abroad to profit from the advantages of a personal loan in India. Some of the most famous banks which provide loans for NRI are State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Canara Bank, Axis Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Citibank, etc.


1. Eligibility: 

  • There are some requirements an NRI is supposed to meet in order to qualify the process of getting a loan. They are:
  • The applicant applying for the loan should be a citizen of India.
  • The applicant must also be at least 21 years of age.
  • It is important for the applicant to be a professional with a consistent salary or to run a business and be self employed.
  • The salary or the income of the applicant should be enough to qualify for the loan.
  • A number of documents which are required to be submitted as a formality.


In addition to all these things, it is possible that there may be some additional criteria dependent on the bank rules. The best to gain a better understanding of all the prerequisites is to go through the website of the bank you’ve chosen and be clear about everything that is required to get a personal loan.


2. Documentation: 

  • Coming to the documents required for NRI loans, the process is pretty simple to get any other personal loan. Salary details and KYC details need to be shown while applying for a loan. If a person is an NRI then reports which affirm the residential status are also important. Other important things are a passport and a VISA of the country the candidate is living in currently. In addition to all these documents, some other important documents are:
  • A photocopy of passport and VISA of the candidate. 
  • A certificate of salary determining the name, date of joining, designation and compensation details in English. 
  • Bank statements of both domestic and International banks throughout the previous half year. 
  • In the event that the candidate isn't accessible in India when the application of loan is submitted, at that point a General Power of Attorney should properly bore witness from the Indian office of the NRI's occupant nation. In the event that the candidate is available in India, the Power of Attorney can be privately legally approved. 
  • A duplicate copy of the appointment letter of NRI just as the contract.


You might be required to present some extra documents, so the best approach is to recheck the formalities of the bank that you have chosen for a personal loan.

3. Personal loans for NRIs: 

There are many banks in India that offer both rupee and foreign currency personal loans to NRIs who have FCNR or NRE term accounts. These personal loans are accessible against the sum in the FCNR or NRE accounts at highly competitive international rates. The loans are usually accessible up to 90% of the sum in the account with each bank having its own maximum limit on personal loan amounts.

4. Some highlights of personal loans are: 

  • The NRI loans have a wide scope of highlights as talked about below:
  • The NRI loans are actually accessible for a higher amount of money. 
  • The rates of interest involved in these loans are pretty competitive.
  • Time frame involved in the reimbursement of these loans ranges between one year to as long as five years.
  • An NRI can get a loan to fulfill almost any purpose.


5. Advantages of NRI loans:

  • The NRI personal loans offer many advantages of quick financing and many other things, for example,
  • Simple financing for individual credit prerequisites. 
  • The loans can be obtained from many other banks of your choice. Each bank has its own rules and advantages.
  • Extremely simple documentation and the application process. 
  • Bother free and quick preparing of all the important applications. 
  • The loans are accessible for both the salaried employees and people who are self employed.

This is a guest post by Shipra Aggarwal