How to Increasing demand for commercial property in India...?

The real estate sector has been a major contributor to the growth of the entire economy and is expected to contribute in approximately 13% of the country's GDP over the next 5 years. If we talk about improving the business environment, then the commercial real estate sector can be considered a major beneficiary. The sector has been promoted with government initiatives such as RERA and GST, which allowed large institutional investors to make large investments in commercial property in India, thereby improving the overall business conditions of the country.

The continued expansion of the service sector has led to the increasing demand for office spaces and thus can be considered as one of the major growth factors of the commercial real estate segment. It is estimated that the average demand for office space across India will increase to 46 million square feet by 2021.

Policy reforms such as REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) will further promote the development of the commercial real estate sector by reducing the burden of capital costs of projects financed on real estate developers.

Increasing FDI in the e-commerce markets has fueled the growth of the warehousing and logistics sector and further increased the demand for commercial space benefiting the commercial property sector in India.

The retail space is also expected to witness strong growth in the coming years and is expected to grow at a rate of 25% to 30% in the next financial year. Finance Minister Sitharaman's Budget 2020 has also brought some good news for the commercial real estate sector. Establishment of new smart cities, development of around 100 new airports across the country, formulation of national logistics policy, announcement of National Infrastructure Pipeline will likely increase the demand for commercial real estate sector especially office segment.

How GST Impact on Real Estate?

Under GST, the treatment of rent is very clear. Landlords who are earning rental income by giving their properties for residential use will not be taxed under GST - thus there will be no GST on rent for houses. However, the GST rate on commercial property rent will be 18%, and it will be levied only by those who are earning more than Rs 20 lakh annually. If the landlord is unregistered due to the threshold limit, the taxable person has to pay GST on rent under reverse charge - at standard GST rate on commercial rent.

Goods and Service Tax impact on home loans

GST impact on the loan taker

Before evaluating the potential impact of GST on home loan EMI and costs, let us understand the components that are bound to be affected under GST. The main cost of taking a home loan is the interest payment on the principal amount. Similarly, any stamp duty levied in respect of documentation of home loan will also not change with GST, as stamp duty is not levied under GST.

GST impact on lender

Lender - In other words, banks and financial institutions that extend loans for real estate will receive ITC in relation to the services received. Also, purchased goods, which they can use against their GST output tax liability, which is good news.

Reduction in black money in the era of GST

GST will help cut down on the cash component in construction, as input will now have to be obtained from registered vendors to get the input tax credit. This would go a long way to reduce the black money component in real estate. In addition, the GST return process will ensure that both the supplier and the recipient of the goods and / or services are liable to disclose transaction details. Price, amount, GST rate etc.

FDI increase under GST

Investments coming from foreign shores are likely to have a positive GST effect - benefiting the NRI community, mainly due to a seamless-inclusive channel. Simplification of taxation is possibly the most positive GST effect on investment, which will also increase the confidence of the NRI market to invest in Indian real estate.

GST applicability on FSI / TDR

Floor Space Index (FSI) / Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) - Used by developers, are rights in land. As per GST law, not all immovable properties are excluded from the purview of GST, such as sale of land. There is a lack of clarity on whether FSI / TDR sales are to be considered "part of the land" - if they are, they too will stand out from the GST; If not, GST will be applicable.

GST on intellectual property rights

The GST law provides for the taxing of the supply of goods or services, or between both the concerned persons or different persons, without consideration. Typically in the real estate sector, multiple entities in the same group use single logos / trademarks without consideration, which can take advantage of GST, while no tax was previously applicable.

GST on barter Transactions

Many barter transactions are seen in the real estate industry. For example, giving free flats in exchange for 'development rights'. In the previous regime, barter transactions were mostly exempted from VAT, as a 'price' was not included. However, under GST law, all types of supplies such as barter, exchange, and so on, and the value of supplies will be taxed according to GST rules.

Real Estate Sector benefits for Budget 2020

The Government of India has made its final presentation about the Union Budget of the session. The Union Budget has received some big news, acknowledging torpidity in the real estate sector that has been struggling with shallow growth over the past few years. The government has made some important disclosures that will provide the necessary ease to the common people. , Including home buyers as well as builders. This is an interesting budget, in which the government has tried to help the industry to control the decline in the real estate industry.

The realty sector that changes key are:

Exemption of TDS

The proposal to reduce GST on homebuyers is very helpful. Under the current Income Tax Act (Sec-194L), a person who is responsible for paying rent, has to deduct TDS on the amount paid if he passes more than Rs 1 lakh 80 thousand during a financial year. The Interim Budget 2019 proposed to increase this exemption limit from Rs 1 lakh 80 thousand to Rs 2,40,000 for a year. This step will be very useful for property owners who rent their property for business as they will receive higher rental income which will doubtless be deducted as tax. The move may entice more investors to buy a second home.

Demonetization rent

According to current regulations, when a person owns several residential homes, they can now choose one of them as "self-occupied" and the other will be seen as renting by default. Prior to this, no one would have to pay any tax on the "self-occupied" property, but the other would be charged the same as the house that was rented.

With this move, the government has tried to increase second home sales by meeting the criteria for genuine self-occupiers who already own a house. For self-occupied second homes, where families are living, consumers do not have to pay any tax on the rental income.

On the other hand, for the real estate industry, where flats / apartments serve as its index, the tax exemption on constitutional rent was proposed to be increased from 1 year to 2 years. This means that builders or developers will not have to pay any outstanding interest on their untax properties for a period of two years, for a period of two years after the completion of the project.

Income tax per year Rs. 5 Lakh

As per the Budget 2019 proposal, salaried employees with an income of up to Rs 5 Lakh per year will be exempted from income tax, and if they avail the 1.5 Lakh exemption available under 6.5 Crore per year, then earning 6.5 Lakh per year. Employees with the same will be exempted. Income Tax Act. However, tax rates have been retained. The proposal to give tax exemption for income up to Rs.5 Lakh will help in increasing the budget of the home buyer and may also provide for the demand of housing.

The new standard deduction limit, which is Rs 40,000 as per last year's budget, has been increased to Rs 50,000.

LTCG discount

Under Section 54 of the IncomeTax Act, the benefit of saving capital gains will increase from an investment in a residential house to a capital gain of up to two crore rupees for a taxpayer in two residential houses and this benefit can be availed only once in a lifetime.

Tax Benefit Expansion on "Housing for All by 2022"

Section 80-IBA was added on 1 April 2017 of the Income Tax Act to allow a 100% deduction on any profits or gains from the business of developing and building. This benefit is proposed to be extended for one year now, that all housing projects to be registered and approved under the Real Estate Regulatory Act by 31 March 2020. The move will force builders to develop more and more affordable housing projects but this tax exemption proposal is directed at setting limits based on the location of the house and the carpet area.

An interest grant on a home loan of 4% will be provided for housing loans up to Rs 9 lakh, with an income of Rs 12 lakh per year and a rebate of 3% on home loans up to Rs 12 lakh for those earning Rs 18 lakh. Last year has already been offered in the interim budget last year to improve housing demand benefiting homebuyers.

The conclusion

Apart from this, the above changes which have a great impact on the real estate sector, other proposals are those that give tax exemption to individual taxpayers whose annual taxable income is Rs 5 lakh and for a salaried employee from Rs 40,000 in standard deduction amount. There will be an increase of up to Rs 50,000 Profitable investors.

Interpretations of the Indian real estate sector from the Union Budget

Below are some of the expectations of the Indian real estate sector from the Union Budget 2017-18:

Encouraging Developers to Build Affordable Housing Projects: The government may announce several new measures to encourage developers to build affordable housing projects to fulfill their "Housing for All by 2022" mission. If "housing for all by 2022" has become a reality, the government will have to provide tremendous incentives for the real estate sector to make homes more affordable and produce much faster to meet overall objectives. Currently, there has been no intervention from the government in terms of land acquisition or land development costs which remain high.If the government can work towards reducing pain for these budget housing segments, more relevant housing units will be built quickly and successfully by private developers. In addition, the government is required to expand the scope of External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) for construction finance for a broad range of housing projects and is not limited to low cost / affordable housing. Tax benefits should be relaxed further for home buyers. For the first time all home loans should be revised to include all home loans up to Rs 3,00,000 including interest and not limited to a value of only Rs 50 lakh. The government has already announced benefits of home loans to low-income people by providing a rebate of up to 4 percent on home loans of 12 lakh taken under the Pradhan Mantri AwasYojana.

                                                                                                 

To grant industry status to the Indian real estate sector: The demand for granting industry status to the Indian real estate sector has been pending for some time. Directly or indirectly, the real estate sector contributes more than 15% of India's GDP. Developers are forced to borrow at high interest rates in the absence of industry status. Due to high borrowing costs and non-availability of funds, construction activities are delayed and hence the cost of houses increases. Once the status of the industry is given to real estate, it will become easier to make affordable housing a dream for all. So far, the affordable housing target is far behind and this can only be achieved if the sector gets industry status which will help drive housing demand in India.

Clarity on GST: While the Goods and Services Tax (GST) tax structure has been announced last year, the clarity of GST as to which tax rate will be applied to the real estate sector is still awaited. This will define the way in which the real estate sector will grow in this financial year. A GST clarification will also be required on the abatement scheme and whether credit for input tax will be allowed if the composition scheme is availed by the developers.

Single window clearance for the real estate sector: Developers have long been demanding for single window clearance to address delays in government approval. If developers are able to get all the necessary approvals on time, then they are able to execute their projects on time and this will also reduce the cost of homes. Therefore, to avoid unnecessary delays in construction and to reduce the cost of homes, single window clearance is required.

Need to increase house rent deduction limit: Salaried individuals receive House Rent Allowance (HRA) as a component of their total salary, and can therefore claim substantial deductions in cases where the salary and its HRA component are high. However, a salaried person or a self-employed person without an HRA component or those making lump sum payment without an HRA component can only claim a maximum deduction of Rs 5,000 a month under Section 80GG. This budget should address this variation in house rent reduction limits.

To make tax slabs and tax reporting easier: Government can focus on easing tax reporting structures. In addition, the benefits of demonetization practice should be extended to the common man through relaxation of tax slabs and offering higher level of exemption. The idea is to reduce the actual tax incidence as well as broaden the scope of tax, with the stated intention of reducing corporate tax.

Apart from the above points, the real estate sector is expecting some more announcements in the Union Budget 2017-18, such as higher tax savings on income tax sups, housing loans and house insurance premiums for first time home buyers and providing clarity on beneficiaries Under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana etc.