Section 269P: Statement for Transfers of Immovable Property
Section 269P prescribed the filing of statements with registering officers for certain immovable-property transfers under the former acquisition framework of Chapter XX-A of the Income-tax Act, 1961.
Purpose and scope of Section 269P
The provision required a registering officer appointed under the Registration Act, 1908 to obtain prescribed transfer information before registering covered instruments. Its purpose was to facilitate reporting to the competent authority responsible for acquisition proceedings under Chapter XX-A.
Section 269P: statutory provisions
Sub-section (1): statement accompanying transfer document
Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, no registering officer appointed under the Registration Act, 1908 (16 of 1908), shall register any document which purports to transfer any immovable property belonging to any person unless a statement in duplicate in respect of such transfer, in the prescribed form and verified in the prescribed manner and setting forth such particulars as may be prescribed, is furnished to him along with the instrument of transfer.
Proviso: The provisions of this sub-section shall not apply in relation to any document which purports to transfer any immovable property for an apparent consideration not exceeding fifty thousand rupees.
Explanation: For the purposes of this proviso, "apparent consideration" shall have the meaning assigned to it in clause (a) of section 269A subject to the modifications that for the expressions "immovable property transferred" and "instrument of transfer" occurring in that clause, the expressions "immovable property purported to be transferred" and "document purporting to transfer such immovable property" shall, respectively, be substituted.
Sub-section (2): fortnightly forwarding of statements and returns
The registering officer shall, at the end of every fortnight, forward to the competent authority:
(a) one set of the statements received by him under sub-section (1) during the fortnight; and
(b) a return in the prescribed form and verified in the prescribed manner and setting forth such particulars as may be prescribed in respect of documents of the nature referred to in sub-section (1) which have been registered by him during the fortnight.
Meaning of important terms
Registering officer
An officer appointed under the Registration Act, 1908, responsible for registering documents within the scope of that Act.
Apparent consideration
For this historical provision, the term refers to the consideration determined under section 269A(a), read with the specific substitutions stated in the Explanation to section 269P(1). It is not necessarily the same as current stamp-duty value or fair market value.
Competent authority
The authority designated under section 269B for the purposes of the acquisition proceedings in Chapter XX-A.
How the historical procedure worked
For a covered transaction exceeding the historical statutory threshold, the transfer instrument was accompanied by a prescribed, verified statement in duplicate. The registering officer retained the necessary registration records and forwarded one set of statements and a prescribed return to the competent authority at the end of each fortnight.
The Rs. 50,000 figure was an exemption threshold under this historical section, not a current minimum value for registration, tax withholding, or reporting.
Legislative notes and present-day relevance
The proviso to section 269P(1) was inserted by Act 66 of 1973, section 2, with effect from 1 January 1974. Act 21 of 1984, section 27, substituted "fifty thousand rupees" for "ten thousand rupees" with effect from 1 June 1984.
Section 269RR later excluded transfers made after 30 September 1986 from Chapter XX-A. For modern property transactions, relevant provisions may include the Registration Act, 1908, current income-tax compliance guidance, and, where applicable, section 194-IA of the Income-tax Act, 1961. Those are separate requirements and should be assessed on their own terms.
Official legal resources
Consult the Income Tax Department, the India Code statutory database, and the Income Tax e-Filing portal for legislation and applicable compliance guidance.
This article describes the historical operation of section 269P. For a specific transaction, verify the law applicable to the date of transfer and the state in which the property is situated.