There is a fair amount of enthusiasm in the State over Union
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s proposal to give tax
breaks to real estate developers who build affordable
houses. Earlier, the exemption of tax on profits was extended
to apartments with a super-built-up area of 60 sq metres. This
has been changed to 60 sq mts carpet area which is a more realistic
way of measuring space. Builders are now of the view that
it is possible to build a 2BHK with the given area, but the key to
making housing cheaper lies in the hands of the builder. Will
they pass on the tax breaks to buyers? If they do then housing
will become cheaper. If they don’t, then only they benefit. It’s a
million dollar question.
