All about Income from House Properties

1 Basis of Charge [Section 22]:

Income from house property shall be taxable under this head if following conditions are satisfied:

a) The house property should consist of any building or land appurtenant thereto;

b) The taxpayer should be the owner of the property;

c) The house property should not be used for the purpose of business or profession carried on by the taxpayer.

2 Computation of income from house property:

Income from a house property shall be determined in the following manner:

Particulars	Amount
Gross Annual Value	-
Less: Municipal Taxes	-
Net Annual Value	****
Less: Standard deduction at 30% [Section 24(a)]	-
Less: Interest on borrowed capital [Section 24(b)]	-
Income from house property	****

3 Gross Annual value [Sec. 23(1)]

The Gross Annual Value of the house property shall be higher of following:

a) Expected rent, i.e., the sum for which the property might reasonably be expected to be let out from year to year. Expected rent shall be higher of municipal valuation or fair rent of the property, subject to maximum of standard rent;

b) Rent actually received or receivable after excluding unrealized rent but before deducting loss due to vacancy

Out of sum computed above, any loss incurred due to vacancy in the house property shall be deducted and the remaining sum so computed shall be deemed to the gross annual value.

4 Deductions:

Description	Nature of Deductions
Municipal Taxes	Municipal taxes including service-taxes levied by any local authority in respect of house property is allowed as deduction, if: a) Taxes are borne by the owner; and b) Taxes are actually paid by him during the year.
Standard Deduction[Section 24(a)]	30% of net annual value of the house property is allowed as deduction if property is let-out during the previous year.
Interest on Borrowed Capital * [Section 24(b)]	a) In respect of let-out property, actual interest incurred on capital borrowed for the purpose of acquisition, construction, repairing, re-construction shall be allowed as deduction
	b) In respect of self-occupied residential house property, interest incurred on capital borrowed for the purpose of acquisition or construction of house property shall be allowed as deduction up to Rs. 2 lakhs. The deduction shall be allowed if capital is borrowed on or after 01-04-1999 and acquisition or construction of house property is completed within 3 years.
	c) In respect of self-occupied residential house property, interest incurred on capital borrowed for the purpose of reconstruction, repairs or renewals of a house property shall be allowed as deduction up to Rs. 30,000.

* Any interest pertaining to the period prior to the year of acquisition/ construction of the house property shall be allowed as deduction in five equal installments, beginning with the year in which the property was acquired/ constructed.

* Deduction for interest on borrowed capital shall be limited to Rs. 30,000 in following circumstances:

a) If capital is borrowed before 01-04-1999 for the purpose of purchase or construction of a house property;

b) If capital is borrowed on or after 01-04-1999 for the purpose of re-construction, repairs or renewals of a house property;

c) If capital is borrowed on or after 01-04-1999 but construction of house property is not completed within three years from end of the previous year in which capital was borrowed.

4.1 Deduction for interest on housing loan [Section 80EE]:

One time deduction of up to Rs. 1 Lakh shall be allowed to an individual for the interest incurred on loan taken for residential house property subject to the following conditions:

a) Loan is sanctioned during the financial year 2013-14, i.e., between 01-04-2013 to 31-03-2014;

b) Loan is taken from a financial institution (a bank or house finance company);

c) Amount of loan sanctioned for acquisition of house property does not exceed Rs. 25 Lakhs;

d) The value of residential house property does not exceed Rs. 40 Lakhs; and

e) The assessee does not own any residential house property on the date of sanction of loan.

If interest payable during the previous year 2013-14 is less than Rs. 1 lakh, the balance amount shall be allowed as deduction in the next previous year 2014-15. Interest which is allowed as deduction under this provision shall not be allowed as deduction under any other provisions of the Act.

5 Computation of Income from House Property

S. No.	Property Type	Gross Annual Value of the property	Deduction for municipal taxes	Net Annual Value of the property	Standard Deduction	Interest on borrowed capital
1.	One self-occupied house property	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil	Deduction for interest on borrowed capital is allowed up to Rs. 30,000 or Rs. 2,00,000, as the case may be.
2.	House property could not be occupied by the owner due to employment or business carried on at any other place	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil	Deduction for interest on borrowed capital is allowed up to Rs. 30,000 or Rs. 2,00,000, as the case may be.
3.	Let out property	To be computed as per provisions of Section 23(1)	Allowed on actual payment basis	Gross annual valuelessMunicipal taxes	30% of Net Annual Value	Entire amount of interest paid or payable on borrowed capital shall be allowed as deduction. Pre-construction interest shall be allowed as deduction in 5 annual equal installments (Subject to certain conditions).
4.	More than one-self occupied property	Only one property selected by the taxpayer will be considered as self-occupied house property and all other properties shall be deemed to be let-out for the purpose of computation of income under the head house property.
5.	A self-occupied property let-out for the part of the year	The house will be taken as let-out property and no concession shall be available for the duration during which the property was self-occupied.
6.	One part of the property is let-out and other part is used for self-occupied purposes	Each part of the property shall be considered as separate property and income will be computed accordingly

6 Composite Rent:

If letting out of building along with movable assets i.e., machinery, plan, furniture or fixtures, etc. forms part of a single transaction and are inseparable, the composite rent shall be taxable under the head “Profits and gains from business or profession” or “Income from other sources”, as the case may be. On the other hand, if the letting out of building is separable from letting of other assets, then income from letting out of building shall be taxable under the head “Income from house property” and income from letting out of other assets shall be taxable under the head “Profits and gains from business or profession” or “Income from other sources”, as the case may be.

7 Treatment of unrealized rent and arrears of rent [Explanation to section 23(1)]

7.1 Deduction for unrealized rent:

Unrealized rent is that portion of rental income which the owner could not realize from the tenant. Unrealized rent is allowed to be deducted from actual rent received or receivable only if the following conditions are satisfied:

a) The tenancy is bona fide;

b) The defaulting tenant has vacated, or steps have been taken to compel him to vacate the property;

c) The defaulting tenant is not in occupation of any other property of the assessee;

d) The taxpayer has taken all reasonable steps to institute legal proceedings for the recovery of the unpaid rent or satisfies the Assessing Officer that legal proceedings would be useless.

7.2 Subsequent recovery of unrealized rent [section 25AA]

Any subsequent recovery of unrealized rent shall be deemed to be the income of taxpayer under the head “Income from house property” in the year in which such rent is realized (whether or not the assessee is the owner of that property in that year).

7.3 Arrears of rent [Section 25B]

Any amount received by taxpayer in respect of arrears of rent from a property shall be chargeable to tax under the head income from house property in the year of receipt after deducting a sum equal to 30% of such amount.

8 Co-owner and Deemed Owner

8.1 Property owned by co-owners [Section 26]:

If house property is owned by co-owners and their share in house property is definite and ascertainable than the income of such house property will be assessed in the hands of each co-owner separately. For the purpose of computing income from house property, the annual value of the property will be taken in proportion to their share in the property. In such a case, each co-owner shall be entitled to claim benefit of self-occupied house property in respect of their share in the property (subject to prescribed conditions). However, where the shares of co-owners are not definite, the income of the property shall be assessed as that of an Association of persons.

8.2 Deemed owner [Section 27]:

Income from house property is taxable in the hands of its owner. However, in the following cases, legal owner is not considered as the real owner of the property and someone else is considered as the deemed owner of the property to pay tax on income earned from such house property:

1. An individual, who transfers otherwise than for adequate consideration any house property to his or her spouse, not being a transfer in connection with an agreement to live apart, or to a minor child not being a married daughter, shall be deemed to be the owner of the house property so transferred;

2. The holder of an impartible estate shall be deemed to be the individual owner of all the properties comprised in the estate;

3. A member of a co-operative society, company or other association of persons to whom a building or part thereof is allotted or leased under a house building scheme shall be deemed to be the owner of that building or part thereof;

4. A person who is allowed to take or retain possession of any building or part thereof in part performance of a contract of the nature referred to in Section 53A of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 shall be deemed to be the owner of that building or part thereof;

5. A person who acquires any rights (excluding any rights by way of a lease from month to month or for a period not exceeding one year) in or with respect to any building or part thereof, by virtue of any such transaction as is referred to in section 269UA(f), shall be deemed to be the owner of that building or part thereof.