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Income-tax Act, 2025 | Section 85

Section 85 - Capital gains not to be charged on investment in certain bonds

Long-term gain can be deferred through investment in specified bonds within six months, subject to the statutory investment ceiling and lock-in.

Reviewed by CA Nikhil Gupta · Updated 9 October 2026

Section 85: operativeEffective 1 April 2026Tax Year 2026-27 onwardReviewed 8 October 2026
Current-law control

Section 85 is presented using the consolidated Income-tax Act, 2025 as amended by the Finance Act, 2026. The general commencement date is 1 April 2026. Earlier years and saved proceedings may remain governed by the Income-tax Act, 1961 and the repeal/savings framework.

2-minute professional decode

Long-term gain can be deferred through investment in specified bonds within six months, subject to the statutory investment ceiling and lock-in.

Professional checkpoint: Apply the provision only after checking the defined person, tax year, evidence, thresholds and any connected Rule or Schedule.

Who should test this section?

Section 85 matters to investors, property owners, promoters, companies, firms and advisers where the transaction involves capital gains not to be charged on investment in certain bonds; the charge, computation and relief steps should be separated.

Evidence to retain

The section 85 file should preserve acquisition and transfer instruments, valuation or stamp records, payment evidence, holding-period material and every document that supports the treatment of capital gains not to be charged on investment in certain bonds.

1961 Act bridge

Legacy provisionLegacy headingMapping
54ECCapital gains not to be charged on investment in certain bonds.Renumbered / mapped

The bridge is a research aid. Legacy case law carries over only after the current wording and transition rules are matched.

Rules and forms linked to this section

No provision-specific Rule was independently mapped from the current Rules register for this section. That does not mean the wider Rules are irrelevant.

Worked application

A taxpayer has long-term gain on land/building and invests in eligible long-term specified bonds within six months. Cap the qualifying investment at the statutory Rs. 50 lakh limit and monitor the five-year lock-in.

Common mistake

For section 85, do not jump from sale proceeds to a capital-gain number: first identify the transfer/charging event, then consideration, cost, timing and any exemption or rollover condition relevant to capital gains not to be charged on investment in certain bonds.

Compliance approach

Identify the statutory trigger for section 85, lock the relevant tax year, reconcile the facts to the operative sub-section, preserve the evidence trail and separately test every linked Rule, Form, Schedule and exception before finalising the return position.

Numeric / timing checkpoints in the operative text

Related provisions

Current statutory text

85. (1) Where an assessee has— (a) long-term capital gains arising from the transfer of land or building, or both, (original asset); and (b) within six months after the date of such transfer, invested whole or part of the capital gains in a long-term specified asset (new asset), then, the capital gains shall be dealt with as follows:— (i) if the capital gains exceed the investment in the new asset, the amount of capital gains as exceeds such investment shall be charged under section 67; or (ii) if the capital gains are equal to or less than the investment in the new asset, the whole of such capital gains shall not be charged under section 67. (2) For the purposes of sub-section (1), investment made in the long-term specified asset from capital gain arising from transfer of one or more original asset shall not exceed fifty lakh rupees,— (a) during any tax year; or (b) in the year of transfer of the original asset or assets and in the subsequent tax year. (3) If the new asset is transferred or converted (otherwise than by transfer) into money within five years of its acquisition, the capital gains not charged under section 67 as per sub-section (1), shall be deemed to be income chargeable as long-term capital gains in the tax year of its transfer or conversion. (4) Any loan or advance taken on the security of the new asset shall be deemed to have converted the new asset into money on the date of such loan or advance. (5) Where the investment in the new asset has been taken into account for sub-sec- tion (1), no deduction under section 123 for any tax year shall be allowed for such investment. (6) For the purposes of sub-section (1), “long-term specified asset” means any bond, redeemable after five years and issued on after the 1st April 2018, by the National Highways Authority of India constituted under section 3 of the National Highways Authority of India Act, 1988 (68 of 1988) or by the Rural Electrification Corpora- tion Limited, a company formed and registered under the Companies Act, 2013 (18 of 2013) or any other bond as may be notified by the Central Government for the purposes of this section.

Primary-source trail

Source status: full Section 85 statutory text in the local source corpus; reconciled to the current consolidated Act control on 8 October 2026.

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