ITAT emphasizes actual payment for cost of acquisition, remits fair market value for reevaluation.

The ITAT rejected the assessee's request to apply section 50C to substitute the cost of acquisition, emphasizing that the actual amount paid should be considered. Regarding the fair market value, the ITAT remitted the matter back to the AO for reevaluation based on the assessee's claim and supporting documents, despite the assessee not initially contesting the valuation by the Stamp Valuation Authority.

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Issues involved: Determination of long-term capital gain u/s 50C of the Income Tax Act and consideration of fair market value of property for capital gain calculation.

Issue 1: Determination of long-term capital gain u/s 50C of the Income Tax Act

The assessee sold an immovable property and claimed the cost of acquisition at a higher value than the one originally bought for. The AO rejected this claim, citing section 50C of the Act, which deals with stamp duty valuation. The AO concluded that the stamp duty valuation adopted by the assessee was not acceptable. The ld. CIT(A) upheld the AO's decision. The ITAT found that the cost of acquisition should be the actual amount paid by the assessee, not the higher value claimed. The ITAT clarified that section 50C is only applicable when the sale consideration is lower than the value adopted by the Stamp Valuation Authority. Therefore, the assessee's request to apply section 50C to substitute the cost of acquisition was rejected.

Issue 2: Consideration of fair market value of property for capital gain calculation

The assessee claimed that the actual consideration received for the property was lower than the value adopted by the Stamp Duty Authority. The assessee argued that the property's fair market value was less than the value assessed by the Authority. The ld. CIT(A) did not find it necessary to refer the property for valuation by the Valuation Officer since the assessee had already accepted the sale consideration assessed by the Stamp Duty Authority. The ITAT noted that section 50C(2) allows for valuation by a Valuation Officer if the assessee contests the value assessed by the Stamp Valuation Authority. Even though the assessee did not raise this issue before the AO, the ITAT decided to remit the matter back to the AO for further consideration. The AO was directed to evaluate the fair market value of the property based on the assessee's claim and supporting documents.

In conclusion, the ITAT partially allowed the appeal for statistical purposes, remitting the fair market value issue back to the AO for reevaluation.

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