The Income-tax Act, 2025 came into force on 1 April 2026, and its residential-house reinvestment provision is Section 82. The official section navigator maps the former Income-tax Act, 1961 Section 54, “Profit on sale of property used for residence,” to Section 82 in the new Act. The new Act retains purchase and construction windows for qualifying home-sale gains, but the correct provision for an individual file depends on its dates and facts. (Income-tax Act, 2025; official section navigator)
What Section 82 says
Section 82 covers an individual or Hindu undivided family (HUF) with long-term capital gains from a residential house. It describes buying one replacement home in India within one year before or two years after the transfer, or constructing one within three years. The Act also sets conditions for any unused amount, early sale of the replacement house and the amount counted toward the relief.
The Act caps the new home cost taken into account at ₹10 crore. If the qualifying gain does not exceed ₹2 crore, it allows an option to buy or construct two homes in India; the text says that option cannot be exercised again for the same or another tax year. These are statutory conditions, not a guarantee that every seller qualifies.
Why the Section 54 reference still appears
Section 54 remains the familiar reference in materials and tax files governed by the earlier Act. The Department’s navigator places it at Section 82 in the new Act. The 2025 Act also contains transition and savings provisions for proceedings involving earlier tax years, so a file spanning the 1 April 2026 start date should not be decided from a search result or section number alone.
BestProp.ai’s earlier guide to the Income-tax Act 2025 and house-property tax-year transition covers the wider change in law references. For a home sale, record the transfer date, holding period, gain calculation, replacement-home dates and return-filing position, then confirm the applicable Act and relief with a qualified tax professional.
Frequently asked questions
Did Section 82 remove the home-sale reinvestment relief? The new Act includes Section 82, titled “Profit on sale of property used for residence,” with purchase and construction conditions.
Is Section 82 just a new number for Section 54? The official navigator maps old Section 54 to new Section 82. That crosswalk is useful for locating the provision; it does not replace checking the full Act and a transaction’s facts.
What dates matter? The statute lists a one-year-before or two-years-after purchase window, or a three-year construction window. A tax professional should confirm which Act and deadlines govern the specific sale.
BestProp.ai reviewed the Income-tax Act, 2025 as amended by the Finance Act, 2026, the official section navigator and the Department’s Section 54 material for the earlier Act. This is a statutory explainer, not individual tax advice.