Chartered Accountant · ICAI M.No. 153926 · FRN 136869W
How 54F differs from 54
Section 54 is for selling a house; 54F is for selling any other long-term asset — shares, gold, land — and buying a house. The key difference is that under 54F you must invest the entire net sale consideration (not just the gain) to exempt the whole gain.
The conditions
You buy one residential house in India within the usual windows (one year before, two years after, or three years to build), and you must not own more than one other residential house on the sale date. Reinvest only part of the proceeds and the exemption is proportionate. A ₹10 crore cap applies. Confirm current conditions per the Finance Act.
A worked example
Example: you sell listed shares for ₹1 crore with a ₹40 lakh long-term gain. Invest the full ₹1 crore in a house and the whole ₹40 lakh is exempt; invest ₹60 lakh and roughly 60% of the gain is exempt. Park unspent proceeds in the Capital Gains Account Scheme before your due date. For NRIs, the same section applies — see the NRI version. Our team can plan it.