ACIT v. Himanshu Garg (2024) 232 TTJ 472 / 38 NYPTTJ 741 (Delhi)(Trib)

S. 45: Capital gains-Business income-Profit from sale of land-Assessee held the entire piece of land for five long years-Improvement made in the plot of land which was barren and uneven by resorting to land tilling, fencing, etc., was only with a view to make the land saleable and further plotting of the said land was also part of the same exercise-Assessable as capital gains and not as business income.[S. 2(13), 28(i)]

Tribunal held that the assessee having held the land for well over five years before selling the same, the obvious intention of the assessee was to make investment for capital appreciation and, therefore, the profits earned has to be considered as capital gains; simply because the piece of land has been bifurcated into five different parts to make it saleable after a long period of five years from the date of investment, per se cannot grant the character of stock-in-trade so as to give it a colour of business activity. Followed, Jankiram Bahadur Ram v. CIT (1965) 57 ITR 21 (SC), CIT v. Kasturi Estates (P) Ltd. (1966) 62 ITR 578 (Mad), CIT v. Holck Larsen (1986) 58 CTR  53 /  160 ITR 67 (SC) and Asstt. CIT v. Ashok Motilal Kataria (2009) 308 ITR 298 (Pune (Trib)   G. Venkataswami Naidu & Co. v. CIT (1959) 35 ITR 594 (SC)  (AY.2014-15)

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