Allowing the appeal of the assessee the Tribunal held that; ESOP options provide valuable right to the assessee to exercise and have allotment of shares. They are thus ‘capital asset’ held by the assessee from the date of grant. If the assessee transfers the option itself, the capital gains will have to be assessed as long-term capital gains if the options have been held for more than three years. (ITA No.2348/Bang/2018, dt. 31.10.2018) (AY. 2007-08).
N. R. Ravikrishnan v. ACIT ( 2018) 68 ITR 457/ ( 2019) 175 ITD 355/ 177 DTR 289 (Bang.)(Trib.), www.itatonline.org
S. 45 : Capital gains–Capital asset-ESOP options provide valuable right to the assessee to exercise and have allotment of shares- They are thus ‘capital asset’ held by the assessee from the date of grant- If the assessee transfers the option itself, the capital gains will have to be assessed as long-term capital gains ,if the options have been held for more than three years. [S.2(14), 2(42A), 45, 48]