Why you should buy property on your wife’s name

Property buying has mostly been dominated by the males in the society. However, due to mighty tax benefits and rebates, the male home buyers are not shying away from registering the property in a female's name, be it their wife or mother. Moreover, this is attracting women buyers to take the plunge in the property market. This is also attached to several concessions and exemptions, which are available only for ladies. 

Here are the top concessional advantages available for the female property buyers -

Stamp duty concession

Several northern region state governments offer partial stamp duty waiver to woman property buyers or to the joint registration, when one of them is a female. You can check with the authorities in your area to know the excat concession that they offer at the time of property registration.

"If the property is registered in the name of women solely, there is a concession given of about 2 per cent," says Rajiv Raj, co-founder and director of CreditVidya.com, an investment consultancy firm based in Mumbai. "The stamp duty charges in Delhi are four per cent if the property is registered solely in the name of a woman and 5 per cent for joint registration," added Raj.

Tax exemption and rebate

Several tax benefits and exemption can be availed if a woman buyer opts for home loan 

- If the property is self occupied then the deduction towards interest is limited to Rs 1.5 lakh per financial year.

- If the property is rented out, the entire interest on home loan can be claimed as deduction against the net rental value. 
- For first time home buyers this year (April 2013 - March 2014), income tax rebate on interest of home loan up to Rs 25 lakh is Rs 1 lakh.

Sharing the benefits

The benefit of being a woman property buyer does not end here. Tax rebate can be shared with the husband as well if he is a co-applicant of the home loan. Not just the exemptions and discounts but several other featured advantages make property registration at the name of female a fruitful choice to avail special offers.

For those living on rent

Ladies living on rent can avail house rent allowance exemption on their taxable income. "If the female tax payer is living on rent and has any type of income from any source and she does not own a house, in that situation she enjoys a tax deduction in terms of section 80GG of the Income-tax Act, 1961 subject to 25 per cent of her income but restricted to the sum of Rs 2000 per month," says Subhash Lakhotia, tax and investment consultant at RN Lakhotia & Associates.

With so many benefits, registering your house on your mother's or wife's name is truly a smart choice. 


SOURCE: The Economic Times