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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said the contentious LTCG tax proposal on real estate is being amended to give option to taxpayers to compute tax liability under the old system or at reduced rates without indexation, and pay the lower of the two. Replying to a debate on the Finance Bill, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the rollover benefit will be available to taxpayers who buy new immovable property utilising the capital gains on the sale of old property. The Budget 2024-25 proposal to remove indexation benefit in calculation of long term capital gains on sale of immovable properties evoked sharp criticism from various corners, including opposition parties and tax professionals. The Budget, presented on July 23, had proposed a lower 12.5 per cent rate of LTCG tax, down from 20 per cent, while doing away with the indexation benefit. The major amendment in the Bill relates to restoration of indexation benefit on sale of properties bought prior to July 23, .
The government has garnered Rs 98,681 crore from long term capital gains tax on listed equities in 2022-23, a 15 per cent growth over the previous year, Parliament was informed on Tuesday. Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary gave details of collections from Long Term Capital Gains (LTCG) tax between fiscal 2018-19 and 2022-23 in the Rajya Sabha. The long term capital gains on equities and units of equity oriented mutual funds were brought in from April 2018. Such gains were taxed at 10 per cent, with gains of up to Rs 1 lakh annually being exempted. As per the details shared with the Parliament, Rs 98,681.34 crore was collected from LTCG in 2022-23, up 15 per cent over Rs 86,075.49 crore collected in 2021-22 fiscal. The collection was about Rs 38,589 crore in 2020-21, Rs 26,008 crore in 2019-20 and Rs 29,220 crore in 2018-19. To a question on whether the government is contemplating to abolish the LTCG tax on equities/mutual funds during 2024-25, Chaudhary said, "There i