real estate investment | Kolkata Real Estate | Kolkata Property

Income Tax Act – 1961 and the Problem of Black Money in Real Estate Transactions

“Black money is so much a part of our white economy, a tumour in the centre of the brain – try to remove it and you kill the patient.”

Though India has come a long way in implementing a modern tax regime yet some pressing issues continue to create obstacles for its future growth. One such issue is that of black money transactions that create havoc in the Indian economy.

There are many areas where black money transactions take place, for example in real estate transactions. The shadow of black money looms large on the real estate scenario as the tax rate on real estate transactions is very high.

At present, the policy planners of the nation is concerned with the prevention of black money in real estate. For prevention of black money being used in real estate transactions, the Indian government has taken certain measures with the insertion of sections 43CA and 194 IA and with the reintroduction of earlier provisions by amendment of section 56(2) (vii)(b) in the Finance Act of 2013 which has given the Income Tax Act, 1961 more teeth to prevent the use and generation of black money in real estate transactions throughout the length and breadth of the country (except Jammu and Kashmir).

In this regard, the Indian government has signed the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) with almost 85 nations of the world. But, black money continues to rotate in real estate transactions on a large scale that creates havoc in the Indian tax sphere.

Estimation of black money is extremely difficult; however Table 1 shows the proportion of black money in the real sector in the time period 1986-1991.

Table 1: Proportion of Black to White Money (in percentage)

Year	Bangalore	Bombay	Calcutta	Delhi	Madras	Total
1986-87	NA	74.14	NA	55.43	58.36	60.13
1987-88	40.56	37.03	NA	45.22	44.40	41.75
1988-89	53.81	29.03	NA	46.46	28.48	37.11
1989-90	21.34	34.09	16.62	47.79	25.60	32.20
1990-91	49.27	50.43	16.19	NA	31.83	47.19

Source: NIPFP (1985) ³& Tandon (1987)⁴

How can real estate investment make your retired life happier?

Real estate investment is preferred not only by working but by many retired persons also. Having a retail shop after your retirement is a good idea and you can have a steady source of income.

It is wise to make your retirement plans at the peak of your career itself. With good amount of money at your hand, you can decide how to plan for your after-retire life. Planning right will make your retired life comfortable and tension free. Real estate has always been a good investment option. A much safer option compared to stock market, real estate investment is preferred not only by working but by many retired persons also. You may be a beginner in this field and may wonder how to invest. Having a retail shop after your retirement is a good idea and you can have a steady source of income.

However, you need to consider few things before you actually invest your hard-earned money.

If you start executing your plan of having a retail shop during your service period only, you will be very beneficial. First of all, as years pass property price increases. Hence, if you buy the land or a shop beforehand, later you will be the beneficiary. Market study will be very helpful for you. After you have finalized that you want to have a retail shop , it is time to fix your budget. Depending on the budget, you will have to find a location. Location plays a very crucial role in determining the fate of your business. You should buy property from a developer who maintains a good track record. Do good research of the place where you are planning to buy the property. Check the current property rates and also the scope for further price appreciation. It is ideal to invest in upcoming locations where you can get property at cheaper price. You should also check that the location of your property has less crime rates. Otherwise there will be chances of robbery or theft or damage to your property.

Once you check all these things, you can invest your money and own a retail shop. You can either lend out the shop or you yourself can run the shop. A good time pass after your retired life and a decent source of making money as well.

Real estate agent: Great helping hand

A real estate agent has emerged to become a great helping hand for the ones who desire to purchase or sale their real estate properties.

Before purchasing an apartment, many people consider taking the aid of a real estate agent. This way, it becomes easier to get adequate help and right assistance. The one who is looking forward to buy or sell an apartment may not know anything about the current market condition. On the other hand, the real estate agents have got accurate information about market stability conditions and they are the best persons to whom one can seek assistance. Without their assistance, the entire process of buying and selling of homes and apartment can be a difficult task. If one is not aware of the present market situation, it is better for him to hire a real estate agent and benefit himself with the proper guidance of the agent.

The procedure of purchasing and selling becomes a whole lot easier and simpler with the correct guidance. Simple things can become difficult if one does not have proper knowledge of the actual market prices. It is important to hire a perfect real estate agent who has got all the information related to increase and decrease of the house prices. There are many benefits of hiring the services of an agent who is an expert in the field of real estate investment. Some of the benefits have been discussed below:

(a) Expert guidance: This is by far considered to be one of the most essential requirements in terms of buying and selling of real estate property. An expert and reputed agent serves the buyers with proper assistance in terms of shifting in market prices.

(b) Time-saving: The moment you hire an expert for handling the issues related to real estate, then he completely takes the charge and saves a lot of time of the buyer or seller as he can continue with his work.

(c) Active Representative: Owing to the market complications, it becomes immensely difficult for the buyer or seller to answer all the questions related to the purchase and sale of the real estate property. Hence, a real estate agent is hired to represent the buyer or seller who has answers to all the queries.

Why a career as Real Estate Agent is lucrative?

Being a real estate agent is a lucrative career option. Apart from being profitable, real estate investment is an interesting field also.

Have you ever thought how much rewarding real estate can be as a career? A real estate agent can be from any educational background. To become a successful real estate agent, the most essential skill one should have is the strong will of ‘serving one’s clients’ as it real estate is a service business.

Apart from the fact that it is a lucrative career, people choose their career in real estate investment for various reasons. Some people don’t want to work under anyone else and prefer to monitor his own job. There are also some people who have a helping nature. They want to help others in investing right in which is considered to be one of the biggest financial transactions of one’s life.

A detailed discussion will show how can the career as real estate agent be fruitful?

You can be your own boss. This means that you can set your own principles, guidelines, and pace of work, choose your client base and even decide your marketing strategies. Since you yourself set your own business line, your sense of responsibility also grows and you become more focused, thus reaping success in the business. Excelling in real estate investment requires effective marketing. This effective marketing includes good business skills and work ethic. You can do other business also as an additional source of income. Once you develop a brokerage business, you can earn very good money in the future by selling off the business. Another important thing is that once you earn good and dependable name as a real estate agent, clients will come drawing towards you. Publicity through word of mouth is very much effective than several other marketing services. So, once you provide good assistance to someone looking to do some real estate investment, he will definitely recommend your name to his near and dear ones. Thus your business will grow pretty comfortably.

Hence, choosing a career in this field is quite rewarding and interesting too!

Is the Property Sector recession proof?

The world-wide recession over the past five years has left a bad taste in the mouth of most working class people. Many jobs had to be cut off and prices of most commodities have gone up making some of them unviable for buying. In spite of all this, there is still one such sector which hasn’t been adversely affected by recession which has been the property sector. The era may be of an economic slowdown or an economic boom, the property sector is always away from loss making. Many people, especially economists feel that this sector is always growing in the positive direction because land properties are non-depreciation assets.

Many real estate agents are now making a beeline for East India. It seems that property prices in the West and South of India have risen to such soring levels that selling any flat, bungalow etc has become tough. The eastern part of the nation, epically West Bengal has been under-utilized in terms of land and property so the prices are still under control. In urban Bengal that is in cities like Kolkata and Howrah, the property prices have just started to rise due to infrastructural development like Metro Rail Projects. So property agents are looking towards other two tier cities like Durgapur and Asansol. Being in the country side of the state, property prices may still be under control over there.

The north side of Kolkata city also still has some scope of availability regarding prime land and property at reasonable prices. It’s so as the southern part of the city of joy has risen up quite a lot when it comes to these non-movable assets. The future seems to be bright and won’t become dull for the property sector for many decades to come in this century.

The boom is just going to increase with time for any property in developing nations. This is true especially for the eastern part of our great nation.