New capital gains tax rules to come into effect from April 1

With financial year 2023-24 just round the corner, certain changes would be effected in the capital gains tax rules. From April 1, converting physical gold to electronic gold receipts won’t be considered as a transfer and therefore will not attract any capital gains tax. Similarly converting electronic gold receipt to physical gold also will not attract any capital gains tax. Electronic gold receipts are depository gold receipts that can be traded on the stock exchanges. Also from April 1 onwards, the government will put a Rs 10 crore cap on reinvestment of capital gains from the sale of housing property under the provisions of Sections 54 and 54F of the Income Tax Act. Section 54 allows a taxpayer to claim benefits on selling a residential property and acquiring another one from the sale proceeds. Section 54F offers tax on the long-term capital gains from the sale of any capital asset other than a house property. Beginning from the new fiscal, capital gains arising from transfer or maturity of market-linked debentures will be treated as short-term capital gains and will be taxable at applicable slab rates.