I became a member of the housing society and constructed a house ib 1974. The construction cost was2 lacs. Now I desire to sell the house and am definately to mmake considerable capital gain by selling it. How much capital gain will I have to pay? Alternatively, what are the exemptions available? What is indexed cost of acquisition and what will it be in my case? thanks in anticipation.Rajesh Jani

Follow these steps for minminising the tax on capital gains on sale of house to almost NIL

Step1 : Get your property valued on 1/4/1981
Since you have bought the house in 1974 , you have the option to substitute the market price as on 1/4/1981 as cost of the property . This is provided ins section 55(2)(b)(i) of the I T Act as given below

(i) where the capital asset became the property of the assessee before the 1st day of April, 1981, means the cost of acquisition of the asset to the assessee or the fair market value of the asset on the 1st day of April, 1981, at the option of the assessee ;

So, get your value assessed by a registered valuer for determining the market price as on 1/4/1981 , which you will find considerably higher compared to 1974.

Step2. Compute the indexed cost
Now you should compute the cost as on the year of sale by taking the revalued cost of the property . For example if the property you want to sale by FY 2007-08, going by cost inflation index , the revalued cost of your property will go up by 5.5 times.
Read these articles for better understanding.
How Cost Inflation Index Saves You Tax?
Cost Inflation Index For FY 2007-08 Notifed!
Step3. Take benefit of exemption u/s 54 or section 54EC
Section 54 states if the long term gain is invested in another residential property , to that extent no tax shall be paid. Read Capital Gains Exemption on Residential Property Can be Availed u/s 54 for Even Joint Property

Or you can take the benefit of section 54EC . Read this How To Use Capital Gains Account Scheme To Save Tax? This way , you will not be required to pay any tax .