LTCG Exemption on Residential Property in India: Sections 54, 54F and 54EC, and the Women-Buyer Angle

Introduction

A family that sells a home held for some years and buys another can usually shelter the long-term capital gain entirely. The relief is generous, but it is conditional. The conditions are mostly about timing, about who buys the new house, and about what happens to the money in between. The commonest losses of exemption we see are not in the computation. They arise because the money sat in a savings account on the return due date, because the new house was registered only in the spouse's name in a jurisdiction whose High Court does not allow that, or because the new house was sold within three years.

This article follows one sale and reinvestment from acquisition of the original house to the end of the lock-in on the new one. It states the law as at 3 November 2026. From 1 April 2026 the Income-tax Act, 2025 replaced the Income-tax Act, 1961. Section 54 is now section 82, section 54F is section 86, section 54EC is section 85, section 50C is section 78, and section 112 is section 197. The conditions of the exemptions carried over without substantive change. A sale on or before 31 March 2026 is governed by the 1961 Act; a sale on or after 1 April 2026 by the 2025 Act.

What "the women-buyer angle" covers

Income-tax law contains no capital gains exemption, rate or threshold that depends on the sex of the seller or buyer. The angle is real, but it sits elsewhere, in three places:

1. State stamp duty concessions for women purchasers, which reduce the cost of the new house but are usually lost if a man is a co-buyer.
2. Registering the new house in a wife's name, or jointly, to capture that concession or for family reasons, which puts the husband's section 54/82 exemption at risk in some High Court jurisdictions. A Punjab and Haryana High Court decision of 12 August 2026 has sharpened this risk.
3. Clubbing of income where a husband funds a house bought in his wife's name, which follows the income and gains from that house back to him.

The article treats each of these at the point in the lifecycle where it bites, and brings them together in a dedicated section with numbers.

The framework

Three reinvestment exemptions are relevant to a seller of residential property. Which one applies depends on what was sold, not on what is bought.

Supporting provisions are equally important: the definition of short- and long-term capital asset in section 2(101) (formerly section 2(42A)); the deemed full value of consideration for land and buildings in section 78 (formerly section 50C); the rate in section 197 (formerly section 112), including the indexation proviso in section 197(3); the cost inflation index under section 72; the deposit scheme referred to in sections 82 and 86, which is the Capital Gains Accounts Scheme, 1988 as amended; and the clubbing provision for spouses in section 99 (formerly section 64).

How the law reached its present form

The 2014 change matters for older disputes. Before AY 2015-16 several courts read "a residential house" to permit more than one unit; that reading is no longer available, and decisions on it should not be applied to current transactions.

The running case study

• Seller: Arun, resident individual, aged 54, salary ₹40 lakh a year, new tax regime. His wife Kavya is a homemaker with no income of her own.
• Original house: Flat in Pune bought on 10 June 2014 (FY 2014-15) for ₹60 lakh, plus stamp duty and registration of ₹3.6 lakh. Capital renovation of ₹6 lakh in FY 2018-19.
• Sale: 15 September 2026 (tax year 2026-27) for ₹2.10 crore. Stamp duty value (ready reckoner) ₹2.20 crore. Brokerage 1%, ₹2.1 lakh.
• New house: A flat in Pune with agreement value and stamp duty value of ₹1.50 crore. Where it is registered, and in whose name, is the question the case explores.

All figures are hypothetical and chosen to show the mechanics.

Phase 1: Acquisition and holding of the original house

What the phase decides. Whether the eventual gain is long-term (the only kind section 82 shelters), what the cost base is, and whether the asset is a "residential house" at all. These facts are fixed years before the sale, which is why records from the purchase matter.

Long-term or short-term

Land and buildings are long-term if held for more than 24 months before transfer (section 2(101) of the 2025 Act; formerly section 2(42A), at 24 months since FY 2017-18 and 36 months before that). A short-term gain on a house is taxed at slab rates and cannot be exempted under section 82.

The holding period runs from the date the assessee acquired the asset. For flats bought under construction, the date of allotment rather than the date of possession or registration is generally taken, following CBDT Circulars 471 (1986) and 672 (1993) for allotments under self-financing schemes, and a line of cases extending that reasoning to builder allotments where the allotment letter conferred an identifiable right. Where the allotment letter is vague, the registration date may be applied instead, so the paperwork matters.

For inherited or gifted property, the holding period and cost of the previous owner are included. For property held on 1 April 2001, the cost may be taken as fair market value on that date, but for land and buildings that value cannot exceed the stamp duty value on 1 April 2001 (a cap introduced by the Finance Act, 2020).

Cost of acquisition and improvement

Cost includes the price, stamp duty, registration charges and brokerage paid on purchase. Capital improvements (additions, structural renovation) are added in the year incurred; routine repairs are not. Interest on a housing loan that was claimed as a deduction against house property income is not added to cost.

"Residential house"

Section 82 applies to a building or land appurtenant to it whose income is chargeable under "Income from house property" and which is residential. A house used as an office or let commercially fails the test; a self-occupied or residentially let house passes. A residential plot without a house is not a residential house: its sale falls under section 86, not section 82.

Records in the case study

Arun's records establish:

On 15 September 2026 the flat has been held for over twelve years. The gain is long-term.

Common errors

• No invoices or bank evidence for improvements, so the renovation cost is disallowed.
• Taking possession date as acquisition date for an under-construction flat, which can turn a long-term gain into short-term or vice versa.
• Claiming section 82 on the sale of a plot.

Phase 2: The sale

What the phase decides. The full value of consideration, the date of transfer (which starts every reinvestment clock), and the tax the buyer withholds.

Date of transfer

The date of transfer is ordinarily the date of the registered conveyance. Where possession is handed over earlier under an agreement that meets the conditions of section 53A of the Transfer of Property Act, the earlier date can be the transfer date for tax purposes. Every deadline that follows (one year back, two and three years forward, six months for bonds, three years of lock-in) is counted from this date, so it should be fixed deliberately and recorded.

Stamp duty value: section 78

Where the consideration declared for land or a building is less than the value adopted by the stamp authority, section 78 (formerly section 50C) deems the stamp duty value to be the full value of consideration, unless the stamp duty value does not exceed 110% of the consideration. The 10% tolerance was introduced by the Finance Act, 2020, having been 5% from FY 2018-19. Where the agreement fixing the price was entered into earlier and part of the consideration was paid by a banking channel on or before that date, the stamp duty value on the agreement date may be used. A seller who disputes the stamp duty value can ask for a reference to a valuation officer.

In Arun's case: stamp duty value ₹2.20 crore ÷ consideration ₹2.10 crore = 104.8%. That is within 110%, so the actual consideration of ₹2.10 crore is the full value of consideration.

Withholding by the buyer

A resident buyer of immovable property (other than agricultural land) for ₹50 lakh or more deducts tax at 1% under section 393 of the 2025 Act (formerly section 194-IA). Since 1 April 2022 the deduction is on the higher of the consideration and the stamp duty value. Arun's buyer withholds 1% of ₹2.20 crore, ₹2,20,000, which Arun claims as a credit in his return. Where the seller is non-resident, the buyer must withhold on the capital gain at the applicable rate under the non-resident withholding provision, and a lower deduction certificate is commonly obtained when the seller intends to reinvest.

Common errors

• Agreeing a price below the ready-reckoner value by more than 10% without a valuation reference.
• A buyer deducting 1% on the agreement value when the stamp duty value is higher, leaving a short deduction.
• Non-resident sellers not applying for a lower deduction certificate, then waiting for a refund that only arrives after the return is processed.

Phase 3: Computing the gain

What the phase decides. The amount that must be reinvested to obtain full exemption, and the tax payable on any part not reinvested.

The two computations

For transfers on or after 23 July 2024, long-term capital gain is computed without indexation and taxed at 12.5% (section 197(1); formerly section 112 as amended by the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2024). For a resident individual or HUF transferring land or a building acquired before 23 July 2024, section 197(3) requires a second computation: tax at 20% on the gain computed with indexed cost of acquisition and improvement. If the 12.5% figure exceeds the 20% figure, the excess is ignored. The effect is that the taxpayer pays the lower of the two. Non-residents, companies and firms do not have this option.

Indexed cost = cost × CII of the year of transfer ÷ CII of the year of acquisition (or improvement). The CII for FY 2014-15 is 240, for FY 2018-19 is 280 and for tax year 2026-27 is 384.

Arun's computation

The 12.5% computation is lower. Arun's tax on the gain, before surcharge and cess, is ₹17,28,750. For the reinvestment exemption, the gain to be reinvested is the section 48 equivalent gain of ₹1,38,30,000, because indexation now operates only at the rate stage in section 197(3), not in computing the gain.

When indexation wins

Indexation produces the lower tax where the property has appreciated slowly relative to the CII, which typically means older purchases or properties bought at a market peak. Holding the sale price constant at ₹2.10 crore (net ₹2.079 crore after brokerage) and assuming all costs incurred in the year of purchase:

There is no rule of thumb that survives this table; both computations should be run. Note the FY 2014-15 row differs slightly from Arun's actual figures because it assumes the renovation was incurred in the purchase year.

Tax if nothing is reinvested

Arun's other income is salary of ₹40 lakh (₹39,25,000 after the ₹75,000 standard deduction). Without any exemption, total income is ₹1,77,55,000. Surcharge at 15% applies to the whole tax (the 15% cap on surcharge for capital gains is not binding at this level).

The gain costs Arun ₹21,85,755 in tax if it is not sheltered, more than the 12.5% headline because the surcharge it triggers also applies to his salary tax. This is the figure that the rest of the article is trying to save.

An unresolved interaction

Where the exemption covers only part of the gain, the Act does not say expressly how section 197(3) applies to the remainder: whether the 20% indexed computation is run on the indexed gain reduced by the full exemption, or on a proportionate part. Practice varies. The conservative course is to compute both ways and adopt the higher tax unless the difference justifies a disclosed position.

Phase 4: Reinvestment in a residential house (section 82, formerly section 54)

What the phase decides. How much of the gain escapes tax. The exemption equals the lower of the capital gain and the cost of the new house, with cost above ₹10 crore ignored.

Conditions

1. Who. An individual or HUF. Companies, firms and LLPs cannot claim it.
2. Original asset. A long-term residential house (Phase 1).
3. New asset. One residential house in India, or two where the long-term gain does not exceed ₹2 crore. The two-house option can be exercised only once in the assessee's lifetime; using it in any year bars it in every later year.
4. Time. Purchase within one year before or two years after the date of transfer, or construction completed within three years after it. A booking in an under-construction project from a builder is generally treated as construction, with the three-year window, following CBDT Circulars 471 and 672.
5. Amount. If the cost of the new house equals or exceeds the gain, the whole gain is exempt. If it is less, the shortfall is taxed.
6. Cap. Cost of the new house above ₹10 crore is ignored (Finance Act, 2023, for transfers from FY 2023-24).

Two points are often misunderstood. Section 82, unlike section 86, has no condition about other houses the assessee already owns. And the money used need not be traceably the sale proceeds: courts and tribunals have consistently allowed the exemption where the new house was funded by a housing loan or other savings, provided the investment is made within the window. Stamp duty and registration paid on the new house are part of its cost.

Timeline for Arun

Transfer: 15 September 2026.

Arun's options in numbers

Option 1: new flat in his sole name for ₹1.50 crore. Maharashtra stamp duty at 7% (the rate assumed for a man buying in Pune, including metro cess) is ₹10,50,000; registration ₹30,000. Cost of the new house: ₹1,60,80,000. This exceeds the gain of ₹1,38,30,000, so the whole gain is exempt. Arun's total tax for the year is ₹7,87,800 (salary only), saving ₹21,85,755.

Option 2: smaller flat for ₹1 crore in his sole name. Cost with stamp duty and registration: ₹1,07,30,000. Exempt: ₹1,07,30,000. Taxable gain: ₹31,00,000.

The ₹31 lakh shortfall could instead be put into section 85 bonds within six months, or into a Capital Gains Accounts Scheme deposit if a second, later house purchase is planned within the window.

Option 3: two flats. The gain is ₹1.383 crore, below ₹2 crore, so Arun could buy two flats, for example ₹80 lakh and ₹65 lakh, and claim the exemption for both. He loses the two-house option permanently by doing so. That is a reasonable trade at 54; it is less obviously so for a 35-year-old who may sell a larger property later.

Common errors

• Buying the new house 13 months before the sale (outside the one-year look-back).
• Treating a builder delay as a reason the exemption is lost: the construction window is three years, and delays beyond the assessee's control have often been accepted where payments were made within time. This is fact-specific and not guaranteed.
• Exercising the two-house option casually on a modest gain.
• Assuming section 82 is lost because the assessee already owns another house; that restriction belongs to section 86.

Phase 5: Capital Gains Accounts Scheme

What the phase does. It bridges the gap between the return due date, which comes long before the two- and three-year windows close, and the actual investment. Without it, money not yet spent on the new house when the return is filed loses the exemption, however firm the intention to buy.

The rule

The portion of the gain not used for the new house before the date of filing the return must be deposited, no later than the due date under section 263(1), in an account under the Capital Gains Accounts Scheme, 1988. Proof of deposit goes with the return. The amount deposited counts as cost of the new house. If any part of it is not used for the new house within the window (two years for purchase, three for construction, counted from the transfer date), that part becomes long-term capital gain of the tax year in which the three years from the transfer expire, and can then be withdrawn.

For most individuals whose income is salary and capital gains, the due date is 31 July following the tax year. Budget 2026 separated the due dates by return form; we have not been able to confirm the final enacted dates from the gazetted Finance Act, and taxpayers should confirm the date applicable to their return before relying on it. A deposit made after the due date, even if before a belated return, has been held not to meet the condition in many cases, although some tribunals have accepted actual investment within the window in lieu of deposit. The safe course is to deposit by the due date.

The Scheme was amended by Notification 161/2025 dated 19 November 2025 to allow deposits by electronic modes (UPI, NEFT, RTGS, net banking), to widen the list of authorised deposit offices, and to require electronic closure applications from 1 April 2027. The Scheme's own notification refers to the 1961 Act sections; we have assumed it continues to apply for section 82 and 86 purposes under the 2025 Act through the transitional provisions, but a formal re-notification under the new Act has not been located.

Account types

Account A is a savings account for amounts the depositor expects to withdraw progressively, for example to pay builder instalments. Account B is a term deposit. Withdrawals from Account A are made in the prescribed form with a statement of how the previous withdrawal was used. Closure requires the Assessing Officer's approval where the depositor is alive.

Arun: an under-construction flat

Suppose Arun books an under-construction flat for ₹1.60 crore (including stamp duty and registration) in his sole name, payable in instalments. By 31 July 2027 he has paid ₹40 lakh.

The exemption claimed in tax year 2026-27 is the full ₹1,38,30,000. The unutilised ₹18,30,000 becomes long-term capital gain of tax year 2029-30, when the three years expire, and is taxed at 12.5% (with section 197(3) available if the computation favours it, subject to the uncertainty noted in Phase 3). Arun should not plan around this: if the builder's payment plan runs beyond September 2029, the instalments falling after that date will not be covered.

Common errors

• Keeping the proceeds in an ordinary savings or fixed deposit account over the return due date.
• Depositing only the amount still owed to the builder rather than the unutilised part of the gain, or vice versa, without working out which the section requires.
• Using deposited money for something other than the new house, which triggers tax in the year the window expires and has been treated as a breach of the scheme.
• Forgetting that section 85 bonds have no deposit route: the six-month window is absolute.

Phase 6: The alternatives (sections 86 and 85)

Section 86 (formerly section 54F): when the asset sold is not a house

Section 86 applies where the long-term asset sold is anything other than a residential house: a residential plot, a commercial unit, unlisted shares, gold. The new asset is still one residential house in India, with the same purchase and construction windows, the same deposit scheme and the same ₹10 crore cap. Two differences matter.

The whole net consideration must be reinvested, not just the gain. If only part is reinvested, the exemption is proportionate: gain × amount invested ÷ net consideration.

Ownership restrictions. The exemption is not available if, on the date of transfer, the assessee owns more than one residential house other than the new one, or if within two years (purchase) or three years (construction) after the transfer the assessee buys or builds another residential house other than the new one. A breach later converts the exempted gain into income of the year of breach.

Illustration. Had Arun's original asset been a residential plot sold for net ₹1 crore with a long-term gain of ₹60 lakh, and had he invested ₹75 lakh (including stamp duty) in a new flat, the exemption would be ₹60 lakh × 75 ÷ 100 = ₹45 lakh, and ₹15 lakh would be taxable. Under section 82, the same ₹75 lakh would have exempted the full ₹60 lakh gain. Choosing which asset to sell, where a family has both a plot and a flat, can change the result materially.

Section 85 (formerly section 54EC): bonds

Long-term gain on land or a building, or both, is exempt to the extent invested within six months of transfer in notified bonds redeemable after five years (NHAI, REC and others notified by the Central Government for this section). Investment is capped at ₹50 lakh across the year of transfer and the following year. If the bonds are transferred or pledged for a loan within five years, the exempted gain becomes long-term capital gain of that year. Interest on the bonds is taxable. There is no deposit scheme route.

Section 85 can be combined with section 82. In Arun's Option 2 (Phase 4), the ₹31 lakh not covered by the ₹1.073 crore flat could be invested in bonds by 15 March 2027, giving full exemption and saving the ₹5,22,080 shown there. The cost is a five-year lock-in at a taxable coupon, which should be compared with the after-tax return of the alternative use of ₹31 lakh.

Choosing between them

The women-buyer angle

The short answer is that buying the new house in a woman's name can save stamp duty, but if the woman is not the seller, it can cost the seller the capital gains exemption. The two are decided by different laws, administered by different governments, and they pull in opposite directions.

1. There is no gender-specific income-tax relief

Sections 82, 85 and 86 apply identically to men and women. The rates in section 197 and section 202 do not distinguish by sex. Since the abolition of the separate exemption limit for women in the slab structure many years ago, nothing in the computation of capital gains depends on the sex of the assessee. Any claim to the contrary should be treated with suspicion.

2. State stamp duty concessions

Stamp duty is a state levy, and several states charge a lower rate where the purchaser is a woman. The concessions differ in rate, value limits and, critically, in whether a male co-buyer disqualifies the purchase.

Only the Maharashtra concession has been traced to the issuing order for this article. Rates for other states should be confirmed with the state's stamps and registration department before a purchase is structured around them.

Two technical points connect stamp duty to income tax. The concession lowers the duty paid, not the stamp duty value adopted for the property, so it has no effect on section 78 when the house is eventually sold. And it lowers the cost of the new house for section 82, which matters only where the cost is close to the gain.

3. Registering the new house in the wife's name

Section 82 requires the assessee to have purchased or constructed the new house. Whether a purchase in the spouse's name, funded by the assessee, satisfies that condition has divided the High Courts.

A High Court's decision binds authorities within its territory; elsewhere it is persuasive. There is no Supreme Court judgment on the point; dismissal of a special leave petition in limine does not declare the law. The practical position, therefore, is jurisdiction-dependent:

• Sole name of the seller. Safe everywhere.
• Joint names, seller a co-owner and funding the purchase. Allowed in the Delhi and Karnataka decisions above and widely by tribunals. A minority of tribunal decisions restrict the exemption to the seller's share of the cost; the risk is lower but not nil.
• Sole name of the spouse. Allowed in Delhi, Madras and Rajasthan (Mahadev Balai, section 54B) authority; denied in Punjab and Haryana. Elsewhere it depends on the jurisdictional High Court and tribunal, and the August 2026 decision will be cited by the Revenue across the country.

Pune is within the jurisdiction of the Bombay High Court. We have not located a Bombay High Court decision squarely on a section 54 purchase in the spouse's sole name; Mumbai tribunal decisions are not uniform.

4. Clubbing when the husband pays

Where a husband provides the money for a house bought in his wife's name without adequate consideration, income from that house (rent) is included in his income under section 99 of the 2025 Act (formerly section 64(1)(iv)), and so is any capital gain when she later sells it. The gift itself is not taxable in her hands, because a spouse is a "relative". The arrangement therefore does not shift future income to the wife for tax purposes; it shifts title only.

The position is different where the wife is herself a seller. If the original flat had been owned jointly, each spouse is a separate assessee with a share of the gain, and each can claim section 82 by reinvesting in a new house in which each holds a share. That structure secures both exemptions; whether it also secures a stamp duty concession depends on whether the state allows the concession on women-only or on mixed joint purchases.

Arun and Kavya in numbers

New flat in Pune at ₹1.50 crore. Stamp duty assumed at 7% for a purchase involving a man and 6% for a woman-only purchase; registration ₹30,000 in each case.

Structure B saves ₹1.5 lakh of stamp duty and puts ₹21.86 lakh of income tax at risk. On these numbers it is worth doing only if the probability of the exemption being denied is below about 7% (1,50,000 ÷ 21,85,755). In Punjab and Haryana it is close to certain to be denied; in Delhi or Tamil Nadu it is low; in Maharashtra it is genuinely uncertain. Structure B also brings Kavya no income-tax advantage: rent and future gains would be clubbed with Arun's income.

If family reasons favour Kavya's ownership, a cleaner route is for Arun to buy in his own name, claim the exemption, and transfer the house to her later by gift. The clawback in Phase 7 works by computing a capital gain on the transfer of the new house, and a gift is excluded from the capital gains charge, so the better view is that a gift within three years does not trigger the clawback. The Revenue has occasionally argued otherwise, so waiting until the three years have passed removes the question. Clubbing of income from the house continues either way.

Joint home loans

Where spouses are co-owners and co-borrowers, each can claim the deduction for interest on a self-occupied house under the old tax regime, within the statutory limit per person. The new regime, which is the default, does not allow this deduction for self-occupied property. Lenders' interest concessions for women borrowers are commercial terms, not law, and should be weighed on their actual value.

Phase 7: Lock-in and clawback

What the phase does. It tests whether the reinvestment was real. Each relief carries a holding condition, and breaching it reverses the exemption, usually in a form that is more expensive than paying the original tax.

Section 82: sale of the new house within three years

If the new house is transferred within three years of its purchase or construction, the exemption is withdrawn by adjusting the cost of the new house:

• where the cost of the new house was equal to or more than the exempted gain, the gain exempted is deducted from that cost; and
• where the cost was less than the gain (so the whole cost was used to claim exemption), the cost is taken as nil.

The gain on the new house is then computed with this reduced cost. Because the new house has often been held for less than 24 months at that point, the resulting gain is frequently short-term and taxed at slab rates, which is worse than the 12.5% the original gain would have attracted.

Arun, if he sells the new flat early. He buys the ₹1.608 crore flat (cost including stamp duty) in October 2026 and sells it in August 2028, 22 months later, for ₹1.75 crore.

Without the clawback, his gain would have been ₹14.2 lakh. With it, it is ₹1.525 crore, taxed at his slab rate with surcharge. The economic effect is that the deferred gain returns, now as short-term income.

A transfer that is not chargeable as a capital gain (a gift, or an inheritance on death) does not on the better view trigger the clawback, because the clawback operates through the computation of gain on the transfer. Conversion of the house into stock-in-trade or a compulsory acquisition can raise separate questions.

Section 86

The same three-year rule applies to the new house. In addition, buying another residential house within two years, or constructing one within three years, after the original transfer causes the exempted gain to be taxed as long-term capital gain in the year of that purchase or construction.

Section 85

Transfer of the bonds, or taking a loan or advance against them, within five years of acquisition makes the exempted gain taxable as long-term capital gain in that year.

Capital Gains Accounts Scheme

Amounts deposited but not used within the window are taxed in the tax year in which three years from the original transfer expire (Phase 5).

Practical point

Families who buy a house partly to secure the exemption and partly as an investment should look at the three-year date before agreeing to any sale. A sale agreement signed within the three years but completed after it can still be treated as a transfer on the agreement date if possession is given under it; the date of transfer analysis in Phase 2 applies here too.

Common errors and risk areas

Consolidated timeline and compliance overview

2026202720282029

1. Purchase before saleSep 2025 to Sep 2026
2. Sale of old flatSep 2026
3. Bonds (s.85)Sep 2026 to Mar 2027
4. Deposit by due dateJul 2027
5. Purchase after saleSep 2026 to Sep 2028
6. ConstructionSep 2026 to Sep 2029
7. New flat lock-inOct 2026 to Oct 2029

Every window is counted from the date of transfer, and the return due date is the first deadline that bites for money not yet invested. The deposit date assumes a 31 July due date for tax year 2026-27, which should be confirmed.

Conclusion

The reinvestment exemptions on residential property are among the few reliefs in Indian tax law that can eliminate a large gain entirely. Their conditions are not difficult, but they are rigid about dates and about identity. The date of transfer starts every clock, the return due date is the first deadline for money not yet spent, and the person who sells must be the person who buys.

For most families, three decisions carry most of the value. First, run both the 12.5% and the 20% indexed computations for any property bought before 23 July 2024; the answer is not obvious. Second, if the new house is not bought before the return is filed, deposit the unutilised gain in the Capital Gains Accounts Scheme by the due date. Third, treat the women-buyer stamp duty concession as a saving to be weighed against the tax at risk, not as a free benefit. In Arun's case the concession was worth ₹1.5 lakh and the exemption it endangered was worth ₹21.9 lakh. Where the wife is herself a co-seller, joint reinvestment secures both exemptions; where she is not, the seller's own name remains the safe choice, particularly after the Punjab and Haryana High Court's August 2026 decision.

References and points flagged for confirmation

Primary and official sources

Secondary reproductions: section 82 (EZTax), section 85 (EZTax), section 197 (TaxCode), 1961-2025 section map (Audcrix).

Cases

Citations for the older cases are taken from professional compilations; the full judgments should be read before reliance.

Points we could not confirm from primary text

• Return due date for tax year 2026-27. Budget 2026 separated due dates by return form; the final enacted date for individuals with capital gains should be confirmed.
• Capital Gains Accounts Scheme under the 2025 Act. No re-notification under the new Act was located; continued application through the transitional provisions is assumed.
• Stamp duty concessions outside Maharashtra. Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu figures are from secondary sources.
• Section 197(3) on partial exemptions. The Act is silent on how the indexed computation applies after a partial exemption.
• Gift within three years and the clawback. The view that a gift does not trigger it is the better view but has been contested.
• Bombay High Court position on purchase in spouse's sole name. Not located.
• Stamp duty rate assumed for Pune (7% / 6%). Illustrative; the actual rate depends on the local body area and should be checked for the specific property.

This article is general information on the law as at 3 November 2026 and is not advice on any particular transaction.