The author is a tax and investment expert and can be reached on jainbalwant@gmail.com
Liability of capital gains on shares will fall proportionately on all legal heirs. No deductions are allowed in respect of self-occupied property where annual value is nil, except for interest paid on home loan taken for the purchase. An employer cannot issue a revised Form 16 for delayed ITRs
My father had some equity shares. The holding period ranges from 1-5 years. He passed away without leaving a Will. We are three legal heirs and I am the sole nominee in his dematerialised account. I had asked the broker to include the names of the other legal heirs in the dematerialised account but I was told that since nomination was only in my name, no other name can be included in that account. If I sell the shares after transfer in my name will the gains, if any, be treated as capital gains for me even if I transfer the sale money equally among all the legal heirs?
Since you are only a nominee in the dematerialised account, you do not become full-fledged owner of the shares even after the same are transferred in your name. You are merely trustee for the other legal heirs. The capital gains liability will be of all the legal heirs in their respective share in the shares sold and not absolutely yours.
You should transfer the shares to the respective legal heir’s dematerialised account instead of selling them from your own account.
I am working as a salaried individual in Kolkata and am staying on rent. I own a flat in Hyderabad, which is vacant at present. I am paying maintenance for that flat. How can I claim tax benefit for that?
As the Hyderabad property is lying vacant, it can be treated as self-occupied and thus its annual value for the purpose of tax would be nil. Since the annual value of this property is taken as nil, no further deductions are allowed in respect of self-occupied property, except for interest paid on loan taken for purchasing this house. Therefore, you cannot claim the maintenance charges paid by you on that flat for income tax purpose.
I have not filed my income tax return (ITR) for the last financial year. My house rent allowance (HRA) has been mentioned as taxable in my Form 16 since I did not claim any deductions earlier. Now, I wish to claim this by showing rent paid to my father to save some tax and get a refund. How can I do this? Will this invite trouble since I am basically saying the Form 16 is incorrect?
Since the Form no. 16 is issued by the employer only after the annual returns of tax deducted at source (TDS) have been filed with the income tax department, it will not be possible for your employer to issue you a revised Form No. 16 now.
However, you can claim the HRA exemption while filing your ITR, which you can do by December 31, 2024. Please note that for claiming this exemption of HRA, you will have to prove that you had actually paid rent on the property occupied by you, which is not owned by you in case your case is selected for detailed scrutiny. In case you are not able to prove the payment, you may face serious consequences. However, you can start paying rent by cheque prospectively and can claim HRA benefits. Please note that your father will have to include this rental income in his ITR.
The author is a tax and investment expert and can be reached on jainbalwant@gmail.com
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