Cost Inflation Index (CII) For FY 2022-23

Cost Inflation Index (CII) is used for calculating the indexed cost of acquisition and indexed cost of improvement of capital assets under Section 48 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 for the calculation of long-term capital gains. The section empowers the Central Government to notify the CII for any financial year. In terms of powers conferred under Section 48 of the Income Tax Act, The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has notified the cost inflation index (CII) for FY 2022-23 as 331 via a notification dated Notification No. 62/2022 dated 14th June 2022. The same was at 317 in the last year FY 2021-21, an increase of 4.42 over the preceding financial year.

Cost Inflation Index

Cost Inflation Index is used to calculate the notional increase in the value of an asset due to inflation. The importance of CII is that this number is used to arrive at the inflation-adjusted cost price of assets transferred for computing long-term capital gains. There are two things that individuals need to keep in mind regarding the cost inflation index.

CII will be used to calculate inflation-adjusted cost only for those assets where inflation-adjusted (indexation benefit) is allowed. Therefore, the CII value cannot be used to arrive at long-term capital gains (LTCG) /Long-Term Capital Losses (LTCL) on equity mutual funds as the amount that exceeds Rs.1 lakh per fiscal is taxed at a flat rate of 10 percent without indexation benefit.
CII number will be required to calculate LTCG for FY 2022-23 for the assets where indexation is allowed before the levy of LTCG tax. The taxes on these gains will be paid while filing the income tax returns (ITR) for FY 2022-23.

The CBDT Notification about Cost Inflation Index (CII) For FY 2022-23 is attached here for reference:

Significance of CII in Long-Term Capital Gains

Let’s understand the concept of CII about the computation of long-term capital gains under Section 48 of the Income Tax Act, 1961. To calculate capital gains under the Income Tax, Section 48 of the Income-tax act requires a person to deduct the following two amounts from the value of the consideration received or accrued on account of the transfer of capital assets:

Expenditures incurred about the transfer of capital assets
Cost of acquisition of the asset and the cost of improvement, if any

Further, for long-term capital gains, the indexed cost of acquisition and indexed cost of improvement of the assets have to be taken into account instead of the normal costs. The amounts of indexed cost of acquisition and indexed cost of improvement can be calculated as follows: Indexed Cost of Acquisition = Cost of Acquisition * [CII of the FY in the capital asset is transferred ÷ CII of the year in which asset is first held or for FY 2001-02, whichever is later] Indexed Cost of Improvement = Cost of Improvement * [CII of the FY in the capital asset is transferred ÷ CII of the first year in which improvement took place] Thus, to calculate long-term capital gains indexed cost is to be calculated instead of the original cost, and this concept is known as indexation. The purpose of indexation is to provide relief to the taxpayers on account of inflation in the economy by letting them adjust their cost of assets concerning an appropriate indicator of inflation, known as the Cost Inflation Index or CII. Thus, the capital gains that are calculated reflect the results of inflation. However, there are some cases where indexation benefit is not allowed.

Concept of Base year in Cost Inflation Index

The base year is the first year of the cost inflation index and has an index value of 100. The index of all other years is compared to the base year to see the increase in inflation percentage. For any capital asset purchased before the base year of the cost inflation index, taxpayers can take the purchase price as higher than the “actual cost or Fair Market Value (FMV) as on the 1st day of the base year. Indexation benefit is applied to the purchase price so calculated. FMV is based on the valuation report of a registered value. Tax authorities were also finding it difficult to rely on the valuation reports. Hence, the government decided to shift the base year to 2001 so that valuations can be done quickly and accurately. So, for a capital asset purchased before 1st April 2001, taxpayers can take a higher of actual cost or FMV as on 1st April 2001 as the purchase price and avail benefit of indexation.

CII for various financial years

The CII for various financial years can be referred to from the below table.

Sl. No.	Financial Year	Cost Inflation Index
1	2001-02	100
2	2002-03	105
3	2003-04	109
4	2004-05	113
5	2005-06	117
6	2006-07	122
7	2007-08	129
8	2008-09	137
9	2009-10	148
10	2010-11	167
11	2011-12	184
12	2012-13	200
13	2013-14	220
14	2014-15	240
15	2015-16	254
16	2016-17	264
17	2017-18	272
18	2018-19	280
19	2019-20	289
20	2020-21	301
21	2021-22	317

The Cost Inflation Index for the Financial Year 2022-23 has been notified as 331 and shall form part of the above table as a line item in S.No. 22. The same shall be effective from 1st April 2023 and shall accordingly apply to the Assessment Year 2023-24 and subsequent years.

Cost Inflation Index (CII) For FY 2022-23