Section 54F of the Act provides that if a tax payer invests the sale proceeds received from the sale of any capital asset for buying a residential property; the long-term capital gains on sale of the property would be exempt.

2) section 54F being a beneficial provision, enacted for encouraging investment in residential houses should be liberally interpreted to include investment done in the spouse’s name too.

3) the entire purchase consideration for propertywill be paid only by you and not a single penny contributed by your wife. A purposive construction of the legal provisions is to be preferred as against a literal construction. Further, even if the provisions of section 54F are literally constructed, there is nothing in the section to show that the house should be purchased in the name of the tax payer only.

4) The Delhi High Court observed that section 54F does not require that the new residential property should be purchased in the name of the tax payer; it merely says that the tax payer should have purchased / constructed a ‘residential house’.

5) hence you would be eligible for claiming exemption from long term capital gains for full amount

1) on sale of your residential property you can invest the sale proceeds and purchase of property in joint names and claim benefit under section 54

if whole consideration is again invested in another immovable property within 3 years (if sold property had been hold for more than 3 years) from the date of sale then no capital tax will be applicable. CIT vs r.k.sachan 2009

section 54 is applicable in your case, you should see this judgment passed by the supreme court: Sanjeev Lal vs CIT (2015) 5 SCC 775

A person wanted to shift his residence due to certain reason, hence, he sold his old house and from the sale proceeds he purchased another house. In this case the objective of the

seller was not to earn income by sale of old house but to acquire another suitable house.

If in this case the seller was liable to pay income-tax on capital gains arising on sale of old house, then it would be a hardship on him. Section 54 gives relief from such a hardship. Section 54 gives relief to a taxpayer who sells his residential house and from

the sale proceeds he acquires another residential house.

If more than one house is purchased or constructed, then exemption under section 54 will be available in respect of

one house only. No exemption can be claimed in respect of house purchased outside India.

I think the applicable section in my case is section 54 which refers to both selling and buying of residential property. The answer given refers to clause 54F which is for selling of non residential property and buying of residential property. Will the given answer be applicable for section 54 which is my case?

The situation arising in your situation shall be for the section 54 alone.