LTE Certificate (Capital Gains Exemption)

Overview

When you sell a house or land that you have held for more than two years, the profit is a long-term capital gain and it is taxed unless you qualify for an exemption. The tax law allows exemption in specific cases, mainly when the gain or the sale proceeds are put into another residential house, into specified bonds, or into a residential house when the asset sold was not a house. These are the exemptions long known as Sections 54, 54EC and 54F, and the numbering has changed under the Income-tax Act, 2025.

The exemption is not automatic. It has to be claimed in your return with supporting proof, and the conditions are checked closely: the holding period, the time limit for reinvestment, the lock-in on the new asset, and whether you already own more than one residential house. A chartered accountant's certificate sets out the computation and confirms how much of the gain qualifies, which gives your claim something solid to stand on if the department asks questions later.

Timing is where people slip. If you cannot reinvest before the due date for filing your return, the Capital Gains Account Scheme lets you park the money in a designated bank account and still claim the benefit, which is one more detail we help with. Rates and rules for property gains have been revised in recent years, so we work from the position that applies to your date of sale. Bring your sale deed, purchase deed, improvement bills and details of the new property if you have one in mind.