holding period under capital gain in DTC

[mahesh mundhra]

I WANT TO UNDERSTAND UNDER WHICH PROVISION ONE NEEDS TO HOLD SECURITIES TO ENABLE ITSELF AS LONG TERM  FOR A PERIOD WHERE ONE FISCAL YEAR HAS TO ELAPSE IN BETWEEN .AS TOLD/HEARD ANY SECURITIES PURCHASED SAY ON 2.11.2010 WOULD BE ENTITLED FOR BENEFITS OF LONG TERM ONLY AFTER 1.04.2012 ? 

[Surender Gupta]

Section 2(42A) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 provides the meaning of short term assets and section 2(29A) provides that long term assets are those assets which are not short term assets. Accordingly, in case of securities, specified in section 2(42A), the period of holding of 12 months is sufficient to make it long term. There is no need cross the financial year once the period of 12 months completes any period of time from the date of acquisition.

AI Summary

Holding period for long-term securities: continuous one-year holding, not financial-year crossing, qualifies under income tax definitions. Long-term status for securities is determined by statutory definitions: if a security is not a short-term asset under the statute, it is long-term. For securities specified as short-term, a continuous holding for the prescribed twelve-month period from acquisition suffices to make them long-term; crossing a financial year is not required.