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Income-tax Act, 1961 · Chapter IV: Computation of Total Income · C.—Income from house property

Section 27: —Owner of house property‖, —annual charge‖, etc., defined

The Income-tax Act, 1961 was repealed by the Income-tax Act, 2025 from 1 April 2026. The text is kept here because the judgments below apply it.

In plain words

For the house property sections, this section treats certain persons as the owner even though they may not hold legal title.

  • A person who transfers house property without adequate consideration to a spouse, except under an agreement to live apart, or to a minor child other than a married daughter, is treated as owner.
  • The holder of an impartible estate is treated as owner of the properties in it.
  • A member allotted a building under a house building scheme of a society, company or association is treated as owner.
  • A person in possession under part performance of a contract of the kind in section 53A of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 is treated as owner.
  • A person who acquires certain long term rights in a building is also treated as owner.

A simplified explanation, prepared with AI assistance from the official text below and checked automatically against it for numbers and cross-references. The official text is the law and prevails over this summary. Not legal advice.

Official text

Owner of house property‖, —annual charge‖, etc., defined.—For the purposes of sections 22 to 26—

(i) an individual who transfers otherwise than for adequate consideration any house property to his or her spouse, not being a transfer in connection with an agreement to live apart, or to a minor child not being a married daughter, shall be deemed to be the owner of the house property so transferred;

(ii) the holder of an impartible estate shall be deemed to be the individual owner of all the properties comprised in the estate ; [(iii) a member of a co-operative society, company or other association of persons to whom a building or part thereof is allotted or leased under a house building scheme of the society, company or association, as the case may be, shall be deemed to be the owner of that building or part thereof;

(iiia) a person who is allowed to take or retain possession of any building or part thereof in part performance of a contract of the nature referred to in section 53A of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 (4 of 1882), shall be deemed to be the owner of that building or part thereof;

(iiib) a person who acquires any rights (excluding any rights by way of a lease from month to month or for a period not exceeding one year) in or with respect to any building or part thereof, by virtue of any such transaction as is referred to in clause (f) of section 269 UA, shall be deemed to be the owner of that building or part thereof;] * * * * *

(vi) taxes levied by a local authority in respect of any property shall be deemed to include service taxes levied by the local authority in respect of the property.

Source: India Code (Legislative Department), the text of the Act as it stood before its repeal. Words in square brackets [ ] were inserted or substituted by later amending Acts, and *** marks words omitted by an amendment. The amendment footnotes are not reproduced here. Official text on India Code.

Supreme Court judgments citing the section 27