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INCOMEUNDER THE
HEAD HOUSE PROPERTY
INTRODUCTION - NOTIONAL INCOME ALSO TAXABLE
SECTIONS 22 TO 27
Although the nomenclature of this head of income uses the words “House Property”, the
chargeability does not confirm to residential house properties. It extends to even other building such
as offices, shops, godowns and other commercial premises.
a) The annual value of any property comprising of building or land appurtenant thereto, of
which the assessee is the owner, is chargeable to tax under the head "Income from house
property".
b) The annual value of any building or portion of a building occupied by the assessee for the
purposes of business or profession carried on by him is not chargeable to tax under the head
"Income from house property".
c) It should be specifically noted that what is taxable under the head "Income from house
property" is the annual value of a building property and not the rental income. No doubt,
rental income is also taken into consideration for determination of annual value in the case of
a let-out property but fair rent plays an important role in determination of annual value.
Income from house property chargeable to tax under other heads of Income:
1. Rent from building property let out is chargeable to tax under the head "Income from
house property". If the said property is sublet by the tenant, the income derived by the
tenant from subletting is chargeable under the head "Income from other sources" and not
under the head "Income from house property" as he is not the owner;
2. Where rental income is derived from letting out of land alone, it shall be chargeable to
tax under the head "Income from Other Sources" as there is no building;
3. The Annual value of the house property held as stock-in-trade of a business shall be
chargeable to tax under the head "Profits and Gains from Business or Profession";
Where the main business of the assessee is deriving rental income from letting out of
properties, and the same is enunciated as the principal business in the Memorandum of
Association, the same would be chargeable to tax as "Business Income" - Chennai Properties
and Investments Ltd., vs. C17" (2015) 373 ITR 673 (SC).
Note:-
1. If business done is exempt from income tax, then house property income is taxable.
2. If business or profession is carried on in a self-owned building, then rent will not be
allowed as deduction under the head ‘Business & Profession’.
Income from house property is the only income that is charged on notional basis, which means
that the income from such property is not calculated on receipt basis but how much income could
be generated from such property is calculated.
ASSET
The scope of the term 'property' is restricted to the "building and land appurtenant thereto".
BhupalamVenkatasubbayyar v. G.L. Mallapa AIR 1953 Mad 636.
BUILDING
Any income derived from a vacant plot of land without any building will not
be chargeable under this head but under other heads of income such as
income from other sources or business income whichever is relevant.
The term 'building' is not defined under the Income-tax Act. Thus we have to take a look at
the various case laws in order to decide whether a particular structure is a building or not.
For e.g., In the case of residential buildings the land appurtenant thereto may be in the form
of garden, garage, courtyard, backyard, approach roads, playground, cattle-shed, etc. whereas
land appurtenant thereto in the case of non-residential building can be in the form of Car-
parking spaces, approach road, connecting road from one department to another, etc.
However, if the land appurtenant thereto yields any independent and commercial income such
income shall not be taxable under the head income from house property.
Ex: where in a land appurtenant thereto a potable water spring has been struck which becomes
a perennial source of water and which could be independently and commercially exploited,
income from the sale of such water shall not be, taxable under the head income tax house
property as such land has become valuable asset, it cannot continue to remain as an
appurtenant land. [Ramalakshmi Reddy (M.) v. CIT (1998) 232 ITR 281 (Mad)]
The assessee must be the owner of the property: Owner of the property is one
who has a valid title to the property, which is legally conveyed to him i.e. after
complying with the requirements of law such as the Transfer of Property Act,
the Registration Act, etc. Owner also means one in whom the right to
ownership lies.
Right to ownership includes the right to enjoy, to use. to occupy or possess, to alienate, to
sell, to lease out, and many other such rights which only the person who owns the property
can enjoy.
Any income derived from a property, which is not owned by the assessee, cannot be taxed
under this head.
Ex: If A is the owner of a land and he gives it on rent to B for Rs. 2,000/-. Now B constructs a
building on this land and lets out land and building to C for Rs. 10,000/-. Out of this rent, he
gives Rs.2,000/- to A as lease rent for land.
In this case Rs. 10,000/- will be chargeable in the hands of "B" as income from house
property. However Rs. 2,000/- received by "A" shall be taxable in his hands under the head
"income from other sources". This is so because A is not the owner of the building.
Thus, an assessee can be owner of
1. Building alone, or
2. Both the building and the land appurtenant thereto.
Sometimes there may be division of right to title and other rights of ownership between two
different persons.
The person having right to title is called as a "Registered owner", and the person having all
other rights of ownership is called as a ''Beneficial owner”.
In such case,Income will be charged in the hands of the beneficial owner and not the
registered owner. For e.g. in the case of a trust property the registered owner is the trustee
whereas the beneficial owner is the trust and so income will be charged in the hands of the
trust and not the trustee.
Under following circumstances, aperson shall be deemed to be the owner of the property, and
any income derived from such property shall be charged in his hands under section 22.
DISPUTED OWNERSHIP
(1) In case a person resident in India (R-OR in case of individuals and HUF),
income from property situated outside India is taxable, whether such Income is
brought into India or not.
(2) In case of a person NR or R-NOR, income from a property situated outside India is taxable
only if it is received in India.
The annual value of such property will be computed as if the property is situated in India.
When a property is used for own business and profession, its annual value is not chargeable under
this head. This is because of two reasons.
Firstly, one cannot earn income by dealing with himself and secondly, the deduction for rent paid to
oneself cannot be claimed under the head ‘business and profession’.
However, the profit of such business shall be chargeable to tax. If it is exempt business, then the
annual value shall be chargeable under the head house property.
Company and Director: In case a company carries on its business from a property owned by its
director and pays rent then such rent will be taken as income from house property u/s 22.
Partnership firm and partners: In case where X is a partner of a firm and the firm carries on
business from property owned by X and pays rent to X. Then there are two sets of ruling of Court:-
(i) In the first case court says that since the income-tax law does not consider firm and
partners as separate entities the rent paid by the firm to a partner will not be allowed as
business deduction to the firm and consequently will also not be charged u/s 22, in the
hands of the partner.
(ii) In the second case, however the Court says that since the income tax act accepts the firm
and partners as separate assessee’s the amount of rent paid by the firm, shall be allowed as
business deduction in the hands of the firm and will be taxable in hands of partner.
In the case where the property is let out with the main object of improving the efficiency of
the business carried on by the assessee:-
For example, the assessee company gives certain quarters on rent to his employees and charges rent
from them. In such a case the rental income shall be taxable as business income (provided letting is
not the main business but is incidental to the main business). This is so because the letting out of
the house property is incidental to the main business of the assessee and the deduction/allowances
would have to be calculated as relating to profits/gain of business and not as relating to house
property. [CIT v. Delhi Cloth & General Mills Co. Ltd. (1996)]
COMPOSITE RENT
If apart from getting rent for the building the owner gets rent for other assets like furniture or
car or he gets fees for any extra facilities provided by him such as security, air-conditioning,
lift facility, parking facility, etc., then the combined rent will called asComposite Rent. Such
Composite Rent received is categorized into 3 types and its computation is mentioned below:
1. Where the composite rent includes rent for building and charges for different
facilities:- In such a case the composite rent has to split up into two and the sum which
corresponds to the annual value of the property has to be charged under the head ‘Income
from House Property’ and the remaining amount which relates to rendition of services ( such as
charges for electricity supply, lift facility, water supply, air conditioning, security, etc.) will be
charged separately under the head ‘profits and gains of business and profession’ or ‘Income from
other sources’.
2. Where composite rent of letting out of building and letting out of other assets and two are
not separable:- For e.g. in the case of hotel business, the letting out of building is inseparable
from the letting out of assets such as furniture, parking charges, electricity charges, water supply,
etc., and so the whole of such income will not be charged under the head "income from house
property" but will be charged under the head "income from business and profession".
3. Where composite rent includes rent of letting out of building and some other assets and the
two lettings are separable:- In this case the assets are separable, meaning one asset can be let
out without the other and it is not necessary that the two should be let out simultaneously or to
one party only. For e.g., letting out of building along with along with a car. Here the letting out is
chargeable under the head "income from house property" and the letting out of the car is
chargeable under the head "income from other sources". This rule will be applicable even if the
owner receives composite rent from the two lettings.
This rule is
Applicable even if
the assessee
receives composite
Where the building or land appurtenant thereto is held as stock-in-trade and the property or any
part of the property is not let during the whole or any part of the previous year, the annual
value of such property or any part of the property, for the period upto one year from the end of
financial in which the certificate of completion of construction of the property is obtained from
the competent authority, shall be taken to be NIL. [Inserted by FA 2017 w-e-f PY 17-18]
Local Authority
10(20)
10(23C)
Certain Funds, Educational Institutions, Hospitals, etc.
10(24)
Registered Trade Union
11 Charitable Trust
23(2) One self occupied house property of an assessee, not let out throughout the P.Y
Sub-sec (1) of Sec 23 defines the manner of computation of the annual value. Accordingly, the
annual value shall be deemed to be-
(a) The sum for which the property might reasonably be expected to let from year to year (i.e,
expected rent); or
(b) Where the property or any part thereof is let and the actual rent received or receivable by
the owner in respect thereof is in excess of the expected rent, the actual rent so received or
receivable; or
(c) Where the property or any part of the property is let and was vacant during the whole or
any part of the previous year and the owning to such vacancy the actual rent received or
receivable by the owner is less than expected rent, the actual rent so received or
receivable.
Step 1: Computation of expected Rent:
Expected rent is the higher of Municipal valuation of the property or Fair rent, subject to the
maximum of Standard rent under the Rent Control Act, if applicable.
a. Municipal valuation of the property: This is the value as recorded in the municipal
records for the purpose of levying house tax and it is based on the revenue generating
capacity of the house property.
b. Fair rent of the property:Fairrent means the rent which a similar type of a property
fetches in a similar locality. It is not necessary that it should be more or less comparable
with the property in question in respect to its condition, location, neighborhood,
furnishing, etc.
c. Standard rent under Rent Control Act: Standard rent is fixed under the Rent Control
Act. Rent Control Act is the Act that puts a maximum limit bon the amount of the rent that
can collected by any landlord. Thus, if a property comes under the control of Rent Control
Act then even if the fair rent value of that property is higher the rent collected should be
under the limit of the said Act.[Mrs. Sheila Kaushish v. CIT [1981] 7 Taxman 1]. So,
whenever any property comes under the control of the Rent Control Act, the expected rent
shall be restricted to the standard value fixed under the Rent Control Act.
Illustration:
Calculate the GAV in the following cases assuming Deemed let out:
Case 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
MV pm 10000 10000 10000 10000 10000 10000 10000
FRV pm 12000 8000 12000 8000 9000 12000 14000
Std. Rent 8000 6000 14000 12000 9500 11000 14000
pm
Solution:
Calculation of GAV
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
MV
FR
MV or FR
W-E-H
Standard rent
Expected rent
GAV
Step 2: Calculate actual rent for let out period and deduct unrealized rent there from.
GAV= Net expected rent under Step 1 or Actual rent under step 2 whichever is more.
Illustration:
Calculate the GAV in the following cases assuming Actual let out
Cases 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Exp Rent pm 10,000 10,000
Actual rent pm 12,000 8,000 12,000 12,000 12,000 9,000 -
Unrealized - - 4 - 4 3 -
rent(months)
Let out period 12 12 12 8 8 8 Nil
(months)
Solution:
Cases 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Exp Rent
Actual Rent
GAV
a. The property is not actually let during any part of the previous year.
b. The owner derives no other benefit from such property.
Where the assessee lets out his residential house to his employer, who in turn allots the same to the
assessee as rent-free accommodation, the house will be treated as let out property and not self-
occupied property as the assessee is not occupying the house in his capacity as the owner of the
property.[D.R. Sunderraj v. CIT(1980) 123 ITR 471 (AP)]
Yes No
The taxes are allowed as deductions in the previous year in which they are paid even if
they relate to past years or future years.
The remaining amount left after deducting the municipal taxes, if any, is the Net Annual
Value (NAV).
Where -
Normal Ceiling:
Deduction under this section is restricted up to Rs. 30,000 (pre-construction + post construction) in
each previous year.
Increased Ceiling:
Imp Note : This increased ceiling of Rs. 2,00,000 is available only for acquisition or construction of
the house.
It is not for repairs, renewal or any additions to the existing property.
1) If new loan is taken for repayment of earlier loan, the ceiling of new loan shall be the same as
earlier loan.
2) If both the loan amounts are utilized in the construction/ acquisition of house, interest on both
the loans are allowable as deduction. However the aggregate limit of both the loans shall not
exceed the higher of the individual limits of either loan. For example if 1 loan is eligible for
Rs. 30,000/- and another one is eligible for Rs. 2,00,000/-, then aggregate limit shall be Rs.
2,00,000/-
Building
GAV xxx
Only one SOP as per All other SOPs are
(-)Municipal (xx) choice of assesse is treated as Deemed to
treated as SOP be let out.
Tax
NAV xxx
NAV Nil GAV xxx
(-)Deduction (xx)
(-)Deduction (xx) (-)Municipal (xx)
u/s 24(a)
u/s 24(a) Tax
(-)Deduction (xx)
(-)Deduction (xx) NAV xxx
u/s 24(b)
u/s 24(b) (-)Deduction (xx)
Taxable xxx
Loss (xxx) u/s 24(a)
(-)Deduction (xx)
u/s 24(b)
Taxable xxx
The amount of arrears of rent received from a tenant or the unrealized rent realized
subsequently shall be chargeable under the head House property in the previous year in which
it is received or realized.
A sum of 30% of the arrears of rent or the recovery of unrealized rent shall be allowed as
deduction.
Illustration
PY 2013-14
The Assessee recovers the unrealized rent during the year 2017-18 as follows –
Solution :
PY 2013-14
The Assessee recovers the arrears of rent FPR PY 2013-14 during the year 2017-18 as follows –
Solution :
Where the property consisting of building and land appurtenant thereto is owned by two or more
persons and their respective shares are definite and ascertainable, the share of each person in the
income from the property as computed in accordance with section 22 shall be included in his Total
Income.
a) Where the property of the co-owners is self-occupied by each of the co-owners, the NAV for
each of such co-owner shall be Nil and each co-owner shall be entitled to deduction of up to
Rs. 30,000/Rs. 2,00,000 on account of interest on borrowed capital.
b) In the case the whole of such property or part of such property is let out, the income from such
property or part thereof shall be first computed as if the whole of such property is owned by
one owner and then the income so computed shall be apportioned amongst each co-owner as
per their definite share.
Co-owners of:-