Budget 2025 Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget on February 1, 2025. The real estate sector has high expectations from this budget. This sector especially wants industry status and tax concessions. The real estate sector says that getting tax exemption will provide great relief to home buyers and this will boost demand.
The Indian economy is slowing down. Its impact is being seen in all sectors. Especially, the real estate sector, which is one of the largest employment generating sectors in the country. That is why the industry is hoping that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will take special measures to increase demand in the real estate sector in the Union Budget to be presented on February 1, 2025 and will also give some relief on tax related fronts. This will also boost economic growth. Let us know what the real estate sector expects from the Finance Minister.
Home buyers should get relief
Atul Monga, Founder and CEO of Basic Home Loan, says that in the Union Budget, tax exemption should be given to those paying home loan EMI – like under Section 80C. Increasing the cap of Rs 1.5 lakh in principal repayment and increasing the exemption of Rs 2 lakh on interest under Section 24B can be a good initiative.
He said that this will provide some relief to home buyers from rising property prices and inflation. Currently, 28% tax is levied on construction material like cement, by reducing this, the cost can be reduced significantly. This will directly benefit home buyers.
Demand to reduce tax burden
Sahil Agarwal, CEO of Nimbus Group, also believes that home buyers should get more tax relief. He said, ‘The taxes and fees imposed on home buyers should be rationalized. It is more than 12 percent of the property value in many states. In the last budget, the Finance Minister had appealed to the state governments to resolve this issue, but there has been no significant progress yet. Also, we request the government to reconsider and provide relief on Long Term Capital Gain (LTCG) tax on real estate.’
Pradeep Aggarwal, founder and chairman of Signature Global (India) Limited, also suggests that the real estate sector can benefit greatly from tax exemption. He said, ‘Property prices and construction costs have increased in the recent past. Therefore, increasing the limit of tax exemption on home loans to Rs 5 lakh can provide great relief to home buyers. Giving industry status to the real estate sector and reforms related to GST input tax credit can also play an important role in boosting demand.’
Getting industry status will change the situation
Dhruv Aggarwal, Group CEO of Housing.com and PropTiger.com, also advocates giving industry status to the real estate sector. He says, ‘The real estate sector has been waiting for industry status for a long time. If it gets industry status, it will become easier for developers to raise funds. This will help them reduce borrowing costs amid rising input and land costs.’
Agarwala says that simplifying GST rates and streamlining the input tax credit mechanism can also be good initiatives. This will help make housing more accessible and affordable for buyers. He said that due to rapid urbanisation, it is also important to implement policies that give priority to developing new greenfield cities and upgrading the infrastructure of existing urban centres to meet the growing demand.
