Section 49 of Income Tax Act 1961: Cost with Reference to Certain Modes of Acquisition
Section 49 laid down special rules for determining the cost of acquisition of a capital asset where the assessee did not acquire the asset through an ordinary purchase, such as in a gift, inheritance, succession, amalgamation, demerger or specified tax-neutral transfer.
What does cost with reference to certain modes of acquisition mean?
Capital gains normally require a cost of acquisition. A difficulty arises when the taxpayer receives an asset without buying it in the ordinary way. The law therefore prescribes a deemed cost for specified modes of acquisition. In many cases, the tax cost follows the cost of the previous owner rather than the value of the asset on the date on which the present owner received it.
This rule is particularly important for assets received by gift, will, succession or inheritance. It also applies, with specific rules, to shares and other assets received through transactions such as amalgamations, demergers, conversions and other transfers that the Act treats specially.
Section 73 of the Income-tax Act, 2025
Section 73 is the current provision corresponding to Section 49 of the 1961 Act. It uses a table to identify specified capital assets and the cost that must be adopted for each category. The section should be read with the capital-gains computation provisions and with Section 90 of the 2025 Act, which contains rules relating to the meaning of cost of acquisition and cost of improvement.
Who is the previous owner?
For the previous-owner rule, the relevant person is generally the last previous owner who acquired the capital asset by a mode other than a specified carry-over-cost mode. This prevents the cost base from being reset merely because the asset passes through successive gifts, inheritances or other specified transfers.
Important acquisition situations covered by the cost rules
| Acquisition or asset | General cost rule |
|---|---|
| Gift, will, succession, inheritance or devolution | Cost generally follows the previous owner's cost, together with qualifying cost of improvement. |
| Distribution of assets on liquidation of a company | Special carry-over or deemed-cost rule applies according to the statutory conditions. |
| Transfer to a revocable or irrevocable trust | Previous-owner cost rule applies where the statutory provision covers the transfer. |
| Shares received in an amalgamation | Cost generally follows the cost of the corresponding shares in the amalgamating company. |
| Specified security or sweat equity shares | The cost is linked to the fair market value taken into account under the applicable perquisite provision. |
| Units received in specified mutual fund consolidation or reorganisation | Cost generally carries over from the corresponding units, subject to the applicable statutory rule. |
| Shares received in a demerger | Cost is apportioned between the resulting company and the original holding according to the statutory formula. |
| Property previously taxed as income from other sources | The amount previously taken into account for tax purposes may become the cost for capital-gains computation, where the statutory conditions are met. |
| Asset covered by other specified restructuring or conversion provisions | The cost is determined by the particular entry applicable to that transaction under Section 73. |
Cost of improvement and older assets
The cost rule should not be applied in isolation. Section 90 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 contains connected provisions on cost of acquisition and cost of improvement, including rules relevant where the asset or the previous owner's holding goes back to a period before 1 April 2001. The exact computation depends on the nature of the asset, the date and mode of acquisition, and the capital-gains provisions applicable to the transfer.
Legacy Section 49 of the Income-tax Act, 1961
For periods and proceedings that continue to be governed by the Income-tax Act, 1961, Section 49 remains relevant under the repeal and savings framework. The old provision contained a series of sub-sections dealing with different acquisition modes and assets.
Section 49(1): carry-over cost from the previous owner
Section 49(1) broadly applied where the capital asset became the assessee's property through specified modes such as distribution on partition of a Hindu undivided family, gift or will, succession, inheritance or devolution, certain old dissolution distributions, liquidation, transfer to a trust, specified transfers referred to in Section 47, and the specified HUF mode formerly linked with Section 64.
In these cases, the cost was generally deemed to be the cost for which the previous owner acquired the property, increased by qualifying cost of improvement incurred or borne by the previous owner or the assessee, as applicable.
Other important rules formerly contained in Section 49
The section also contained separate rules for shares received in an amalgamation; shares or debentures arising from specified conversions; specified securities and sweat equity shares; LLP conversion situations; Global Depository Receipt redemptions; units of business trusts; mutual fund consolidations; preference-share conversion; segregated mutual fund portfolios; demergers; co-operative bank reorganisations; transfers where an exemption was withdrawn under Section 47A; property whose value had already been taxed under specified clauses of Section 56(2); assets declared under the Income Declaration Scheme, 2016; specified capital assets connected with Section 10(37A); assets arising from joint development arrangements under Section 45(5A); assets of trusts or institutions on which accreted-income tax had been paid; and capital assets covered by the specified business-income provision.
Because the applicability of the old Act now depends on the relevant year and the transition provisions, readers dealing with an earlier assessment year, pending proceeding, appeal, reassessment, rectification or penalty matter should identify the governing Act before applying a section number.
Practical example
Suppose a person inherits a capital asset that the previous owner had purchased. The heir does not normally substitute the market value on the inheritance date merely because ownership changed through inheritance. The applicable carry-over-cost rule traces the cost to the previous owner, subject to the statutory rules concerning cost of improvement, older assets and the particular capital-gains computation applicable when the asset is later transferred.
Related capital-gains provisions
For legacy matters under the 1961 Act, Section 49 should be read with Section 45 on capital gains, Section 47 on transactions not regarded as transfer, Section 47A on withdrawal of exemption, and Section 48 on mode of computation.
Official Income Tax resources
For the current statutory text and transition guidance, use the official Income Tax Department resources: Income-tax Act, 2025, Section 73 - Cost with reference to certain modes of acquisition, Section 90 - Cost of acquisition and cost of improvement, and official FAQs on the transition to the Income-tax Act, 2025.
Note: This page is a general legal and tax information article. The applicable cost of acquisition can depend on the tax year, acquisition history, asset type, restructuring provision and transition rules. Verify the governing provision for the relevant transaction and year.