Capital Gains Exemption Calculator (India): 54, 54EC, 54F

About the Capital Gains Exemption Calculator (India): 54, 54EC, 54F

A long-term capital gain does not have to be taxed if you put it back into the right asset in time. Under the Income-tax Act, 2025 the reinvestment exemptions are section 82 (a house from a house), section 83 (farm land from farm land), section 85 (bonds of NHAI, REC and other notified issuers, up to ₹50 lakh) and section 86 (a house from any other asset) — the old sections 54, 54B, 54EC and 54F, which still apply to sales up to 31 March 2026.

Enter what you sold, the date and the gain (work it out first with the capital gains tax calculator if you need to), and the amounts you have invested or plan to. You get the exempt and taxable gain, the tax that saves, the deadlines worked out from your sale date — the purchase and construction windows, six months for bonds, the Capital Gains Accounts Scheme deposit before the return due date — the ₹10 crore caps, and what happens if you sell the new asset early. Everything is calculated in your browser.

Common uses

• Planning how much of the sale proceeds to put into a new home and how much into bonds.
• Checking the last date for 54EC bonds and for the Capital Gains Account deposit.
• Seeing whether a house booked with a builder will be finished in time.
• Understanding what happens to the exemption if you sell the new flat within three years.

The four exemptions

• House from a house (section 82; 54): an individual or HUF with a long-term gain on a residential house buys one house in India one year before to two years after the sale, or builds one within three years. The gain up to the cost of the new house is exempt. If the gain is ₹2 crore or less, you may buy two houses — once in a lifetime.
• Farm land from farm land (section 83; 54B): land used for agriculture by you, a parent or the HUF in the two years before the sale; other agricultural land bought within two years. Short-term gains qualify too.
• Bonds (section 85; 54EC): a long-term gain on land or a building, invested within six months in bonds redeemable after five years — NHAI, REC or another notified issuer — at most ₹50 lakh in a tax year and across the year of sale and the next. Any seller, including a company.
• House from any other asset (section 86; 54F): shares, mutual funds, gold, a plot or any long-term asset other than a residential house; the exempt part is gain × cost of the new house ÷ net sale price, and all of it if the house costs at least the net sale price. You may not own more than one other house on the date of sale.

The Capital Gains Accounts Scheme

If you have not bought or built the new house or land by the time you file the return, deposit the amount in a Capital Gains Account with an authorised bank before the return due date (31 July, 31 August with business income, 31 October with an audit — after the end of the year of sale) and attach the proof. The deposit counts as the cost of the new asset; spend it within the window. What is left unused is taxed in the year the window ends — three years from the sale for a house, two for farm land (sections 82(2)–(4), 83(2)–(4), 86(2)–(4)).

Caps, lock-ins and what can go wrong

Only ₹10 crore of the cost of a new house counts (sections 82(7), 86(8)), and a gain or net sale price above ₹10 crore is ignored for the deposit. The new house or land is locked in for three years: sell it earlier and the exemption comes back — through a lower cost for the new asset (sections 82 and 83) or as long-term gain of that year (section 86). Bonds are locked in for five years, and a loan against them counts as cashing them in. Under section 86, buying another house within two years or building one within three also brings the exemption back. Conditions of an exemption claimed under the 1961 Act that are broken from Tax Year 2026-27 are taxed under the 2025 Act (section 536(2)(h)).

Sources

• Income-tax Act, 2025 — sections 2(101), 82, 83, 85, 86, 263 and 536
• Finance Act, 2026 — section 66 (return due dates) and section 5 (due dates for FY 2025-26)
• Income-tax e-filing portal — sections 54, 54B, 54EC and 54F of the Income-tax Act, 1961 for earlier sales
• CBDT Circular No. 7/2026 — the later return date for audit cases, FY 2025-26

Limitations

• Enter the gain already worked out: the checker does not compute it from prices, indexation or the rules — the capital gains tax calculator does.
• Each exemption is applied to the whole gain and their total is capped at the gain, as the return’s capital gains schedule does; some advisers apply section 86 only to the gain left after the bonds.
• The ₹50 lakh bond limit is checked for this sale only; add any other 54EC investment of the same tax year yourself.
• The windows use calendar dates and are one day inside each end to be safe. Possession, registration and completion dates can be argued either way — keep the documents.
• The tax saved is 12.5% plus 4% cess on the exempt part, before any surcharge; land and buildings bought before 23 July 2024 may be taxed at 20% with indexation instead.

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