Realty stocks in limelight; Omaxe surges 5 percent

Realty stocks were in the limelight on Wednesday, with Omaxe surging 5 percent, a day after the government proposed significant relief for individuals who bought houses before July 23, 2024, by giving them the option to choose between two tax rates for long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax.

Shares of Omaxe surged 5 percent, Oberoi Realty soared 3.22 percent, DLF jumped 3.11 percent, Ansal Properties & Infrastructure shot up by 2.31 percent, Microtech Developers went up by 1.93 percent, Godrej Properties climbed 1.74 percent, Ajmera Realty (1.19 percent) and Mahindra Lifespace Developers (0.36 percent) on the BSE.

The BSE realty index climbed 1.80 percent to settle at 7,959.96."The Indian market also witnessed broad-based buying across sectors, with the realty sector seeing a relief rally due to the reinstatement of indexation benefits," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

The Budget 2024-25 had proposed to lower the LTCG from 20 percent to 12.5 percent but removed the indexation benefits. The new rates have come into effect from July 23, 2024. The indexation benefit allowed taxpayers to compute gains arising out of the sale of capital assets after adjusting for inflation.

Tax experts had said that the proposed changes in the Budget would raise the LTCG tax burden. As per the amendments to Finance Bill, 2024, circulated to the Lok Sabha members on Tuesday, individuals or HuF (Hindu Undivided Family) who bought houses before July 23, 2024, can compute his/her taxes under the new scheme [@12.5 percent without indexation] and old scheme [@20 percent with indexation] and pay such tax which is lower of the two.

Gouri Puri, Partner, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. Said, this will quell taxpayer concerns around losing indexation benefits as a trade-off for a lower long-term capital gains tax rate."Taxpayers can choose the more beneficial regime and should not be worse off because of changes in law. 

Concerns around taxation of inflationary gains in respect of immovable property acquired prior to a change in the law have been addressed," Puri added. In the equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 874.94 points to settle at 79,468.01. The NSE Nifty surged 304.95 points to 24,297.50.