Payment towards amenities like club membership fee, car parking fee, electricity and water etc at the time of purchase of immovable property

Union budget – 2019 is widening the scope of TDS deduction u/s 194IA which required TDS on property @ 1% if the property value exceed Rs. 50 Lakh.

Section 194-IA of the Act relates to payment on transfer of certain immovable property other than agricultural land and provides for levy of TDS at the rate of 1% on the amount of consideration paid or credited for transfer of such property. The term ‘consideration for immovable property’ is presently not defined for the purposes of this section.

It is noted that in the transaction involving purchase of immovable property, there are other types of payments made besides the sales consideration and the buyer is contractually bound to make such payments to the builder/seller, either under the same agreement or under a different agreement. Some of such payments are those for rights to amenities like club membership fee, car parking fee, electricity and water facility fees,  maintenance fee, advance fee etc.

Accordingly, it is proposed to amend the Explanation to said section and provide that the term “consideration for immovable property” shall include all charges of the nature of club membership fee, car parking fee, electricity and water facility fees, maintenance fee, advance fee or any other charges of similar nature, which are incidental to transfer of the immovable property.

This amendment will take effect from 1st September, 2019.