Relief for builders, investors & homebuyers in NCR
Gurugram/Noida: Buyers, as well as sellers in Gurugram, Noida and other cities of National Capital Region (NCR), have a reason to be satisfied with the interim Budget presented by stand-in finance minister Piyush Goyal. Taking cognisance of the huge unsold inventory of the builders, the government in its last Budget extended the period of payment of notional tax from one year to two years. It was also stated by Goyal that the public officials have already begun finding solutions on how the tax mechanism in the sale and purchase of real estate assets can further be simplified.
At a time when affordable housing is been given a boost, Goyal also mentioned that the builders involved in the affordable housing projects will be exempted from taxation. The benefit of notional tax was also extended to investors and homebuyers. A notional rent is applicable to the second house if someone has more than one house, has been waived off, considering the needs of citizens who migrate to for job opportunities, as well as those who have to maintain two houses for family reasons.
Previously, somebody who had two houses had to pay a tax on the notional rent even if the second house was not rented out. So somebody whose second house was being occupied by immediate family or parents would still end up paying tax on notional rent though he was not earning any income from that house. The threshold limit for TDS on rental income has been increased to Rs 2.4 lakh from Rs 1.8 lakh currently. Goyal's Budget had good news for those looking to sell houses too. Earlier, a person who purchased a new residential property using the proceeds from the sale of another residential property would be exempt from capital gains tax. As an investor, if you would have invested in the residential real estate market of Gurugram before 2008 there would have been high chances of the price of your investment appreciating from 70 to 90%.
Good roads network, the presence of world-class social infrastructure and job opportunities made Gurugram a perfect investment opportunity. Things changed full circle post 2008 with most of the developers not being able to complete and sell their residential projects.
"The residential sector in Gurugram has been facing a lot of pressure for four to five years. The only silver lining of the realty scenario in the city was sales of commercial properties. Since Gurugram is pioneer of bringing in realty revolution in the NCR, the State Government and the builders must collaborate towards the selling of properties in the city at reasonable rates for the consumer," said Rahul Suri a realtor in Gurugram.
