Under section 50C, fair market value must be determined on the...

Under section 50C, fair market value must be determined on the property's existing condition, not on a hypothetical development or plotting basis. The text states that where the difference between declared consideration and the valuation was within the accepted tolerance band, the Departmental Valuation Officer's report could not reliably replace the actual sale price, especially because it assumed future development, deducted development expenses and developer's profit, and did not value the land as transferred. It also notes that, after a reference under section 50C(2), appellate direction to adopt stamp duty value directly was contrary to the statutory mechanism and unsustainable. The addition to long-term capital gains was deleted.

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