Rule 247 — Qualification of registered valuer for the purposes of section 514. Made under s.514 of the Income-tax Act, 2025.
Rule 247 gives effect to Section 514 of the Income-tax Act, 2025. A rule cannot go beyond the section it serves: where the two seem to differ, the section governs.
Sub-rule (1) states that the qualifications for registration as valuers for different classes of assets, for the purposes of section 514(2), are those specified in sub-rules (2) to (9).
Sub-rule (2) carries the Table of qualifications by class of asset. For immovable property other than agricultural lands, plantations, forests, mines and quarries, the applicant must be a graduate in civil engineering, architecture or town planning from a recognised University, or a post-graduate in valuation of real estate from a recognised University, or hold a qualification recognised by the Central Government for recruitment to superior services or posts in those fields; and must have been formerly employed either in a post under Government as a Gazetted officer or in a post under any other employer carrying remuneration of not less than Rs. 50000 per month, retiring or resigning after not less than ten years of service as a valuer, architect or town planner or in construction of buildings, designing of structures or development of land — reduced to three years for a post-graduate in valuation of real estate — or as a professor, reader or lecturer teaching those subjects for the same periods. Alternatively the applicant must have been in practice as a consulting engineer, valuer of real estate, surveyor or architect for not less than ten years, or three years with that post-graduate degree, with experience in valuation of buildings and urban lands, quantity surveying in building construction, architectural or structural designing or town planning, or construction of buildings or development of land, and gross receipts from that practice of not less than Rs. 100000 in any three of the five preceding years, or in any two of the three preceding years for such a post-graduate.
For agricultural lands other than the plantations at entry 3, the applicant must be a graduate in agricultural science of a recognised University who has worked as a farm valuer for not less than five years, or a person formerly employed under Government as a Collector, Deputy Collector, Settlement Officer, Land Valuation Officer, Superintendent of Land Records, Agricultural Officer, Registrar under the Registration Act, 1908 or an officer of equivalent rank performing similar functions, who has retired or resigned after an aggregate of not less than five years in such posts. For coffee, tea, rubber or cardamom plantations, the applicant must have owned or managed such a plantation for not less than five years with an area under plantation of not less than four hectares for cardamom or forty hectares for any other plantation, or have held one of the same Government posts for an aggregate of not less than five years, of which not less than three years must have been in areas where that crop is extensively grown. For forest, the applicant must have retired or resigned from a Gazetted post under Government requiring specialised knowledge in forestry after not less than five years.
For mines and quarries, the applicant must be a graduate in mining of a recognised university or hold a Central Government recognised qualification for superior services in mining, and must have retired or resigned after not less than ten years as a mining engineer, from a Gazetted post under Government or a post under any other employer carrying remuneration of not less than Rs. 50000 per month. For stocks, shares, debentures, securities, shares in partnership firms and business assets including goodwill, the applicant must be a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, the Institute of Cost Accountants of India or the Institute of Company Secretaries of India, or hold a Master of Business Administration or Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management with specialisation in Finance, or be a post graduate in Finance, and must either have practised in a relevant discipline for not less than ten years with gross receipts of not less than Rs. 100000 in any three of the five preceding years, or have retired or resigned after not less than ten years in the field of audit and accounts or taxation work from a Gazetted post under Government or a post carrying remuneration of not less than Rs. 50000 per month, or have served in a relevant discipline at a remuneration of not less than Rs. 100000 per month and retired or resigned after not less than ten years.
For machinery and plant, the applicant must be a graduate or post-graduate in one of the listed engineering disciplines or in Valuation of Plant and Machinery from a recognised University, or hold a Central Government recognised qualification in mechanical or electrical engineering, and must have retired or resigned after not less than ten years — three years with a post-graduate degree in valuation of machinery and plant — from a Gazetted post under Government or a post carrying remuneration of not less than Rs. 50000 per month, or after teaching those subjects for the same periods; alternatively he must have been in practice as a consulting engineer or valuer of machinery and plant for not less than ten years with gross receipts of not less than Rs. 100000 in any three of the five preceding years, or in any two of the three preceding years for such a post-graduate. For jewellery, the applicant must have been for not less than five years a sole proprietor or partner in a firm carrying on jewellery business with an average annual turnover of not less than fifty lakhs rupees, or profit including fees for valuation of not less than Rs. 500000, in the last three of the five preceding years. For works of art, he must have specialisation by virtue of his academic and professional pursuits in the particular line of art and have served as Director General or Superintending Archaeologist of the Archaeological Survey of India, as Director of one of the named museums, as principal of a Government School of Art, or as a member of the Art Purchase Committee of any of those museums or of the Lalit Kala Akademi. For life interest, reversions and interest in expectancy, he must be a graduate of a recognised University and must have been in practice as an actuary under the Insurance Act, 1938 for not less than ten years, or have rendered continuous service as an actuary under Government or in the Life Insurance Corporation of India for not less than ten years, or have combined the two for an aggregate of not less than ten years.
Sub-rule (3) leaves the qualifications for assets other than those in sub-rule (2) to be determined by the Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner, or the Principal Director General or Director General, to whom the application is submitted, and makes that decision conclusive.
Sub-rule (4) disqualifies a person employed under Government or any other employer, except as a valuer of works of art or virtual digital assets or such other class of assets as the Board may specify. Sub-rule (5) sets out absolute disqualifications, irrespective of sub-rules (1) to (4): dismissal or removal from Government service; conviction of an offence connected with a proceeding under the Income-tax Act, 1961, the Wealth-tax Act, 1957 or the Gift-tax Act, 1958, or imposition of a penalty under the listed provisions of those Acts or under section 439 or section 463 of the Act; being an undischarged insolvent; conviction of any offence and sentence to a term of imprisonment; being found guilty of misconduct in a professional capacity by an association or institution of the relevant profession; minority; a declaration of unsound mind; not being found fit to be registered as a valuer, decided on reasons recorded in writing after an opportunity of being heard; and being an undischarged bankrupt or having applied to be adjudicated bankrupt.
Sub-rule (6) allows the ten-year or five-year requirements to be met by adding periods together — service in any capacity, teaching any subject, practising any profession or gaining experience in any other capacity or field, taken either singly or collectively. Sub-rule (7) defines "recognised University" as any University in India established by law in force, any educational institution recognised by the University Grants Commission by notification, or any foreign university or educational institution whose degree is recognised as equivalent to an Indian University degree as determined by the Association of Indian Universities. Sub-rule (8) provides that where membership of an institution is recognised by the Central Government as a qualification for recruitment to civil services or posts, that membership is not a requisite qualification for this rule unless it was granted on the basis of passing the institution's examinations.
Sub-rule (9) requires the application referred to in rule 246(1) to be disposed of, by granting approval or rejecting it, within six months from the end of the month in which it is made. Sub-rule (10) allows the same authority to call for any relevant information from the applicant before disposing of the application.
Section 514(2) makes registration as a valuer depend on prescribed qualifications and leaves the prescription to the rules. Valuation under the Act runs from jewellery to plantations to actuarial interests, and no single qualification could serve them all, so the rule builds a Table asset class by asset class, each combining an academic qualification with a minimum period of relevant employment or practice and, for practitioners, an income test that evidences the practice was real. Sub-rules (4) and (5) then keep out those whose position or record makes them unsuitable, and sub-rules (9) and (10) put a time limit on the authority deciding the application.
| What | Figure | The condition on it | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum remuneration in a post under an employer other than Government | Not less than Rs. 50000 per month | Where the applicant relies on former employment outside Government; applies to immovable property, mines and quarries, stocks and shares, and machinery and plant | Sub-rule (2), Table Sl. Nos. 1(b)(i)(B), 5(b)(B), 6(c)(ii)(B) and 7(b)(ii) |
| Minimum period of service, teaching or practice | Not less than ten years | For immovable property, mines and quarries, stocks and shares, machinery and plant, and life interest; reduced to three years for immovable property and for machinery and plant where the applicant holds the relevant post-graduate degree in valuation | Sub-rule (2), Table Sl. Nos. 1, 5, 6, 7 and 10 |
| Minimum period for agricultural land, plantations and forest | Not less than five years | Service in the specified Government posts, work as a farm valuer, or ownership or management of a plantation; for a plantation officer, not less than three of those five years in areas where the crop is extensively grown | Sub-rule (2), Table Sl. Nos. 2, 3 and 4 |
| Gross receipts from practice | Not less than Rs. 100000 | In any three of the five preceding years, or in any two of the three preceding years where the applicant holds the relevant post-graduate degree in valuation; for immovable property, stocks and shares, and machinery and plant | Sub-rule (2), Table Sl. Nos. 1, 6(c)(i) and 7 |
| Remuneration for the service route in the stocks and shares class | Not less than Rs. 100000 per month | Service in a discipline relevant to valuation of stocks, shares, debentures, securities, shares in partnership firms and business assets, for not less than ten years | Sub-rule (2), Table Sl. No. 6(d) |
| Minimum area under plantation | Four hectares for a cardamom plantation; forty hectares for any other plantation | Where the applicant relies on having owned or managed the plantation for not less than five years | Sub-rule (2), Table Sl. No. 3(a) |
| Jewellery business turnover or profit test | Average annual turnover of not less than fifty lakhs rupees, or profit including fees for valuation of not less than Rs. 500000 | As a sole proprietor or partner for not less than five years, in the last three of the five preceding years | Sub-rule (2), Table Sl. No. 8 |
| Time to dispose of the application under rule 246(1) | Six months | From the end of the month in which the application is made; by granting approval or rejecting it | Sub-rule (9) |
Almost every entry is cumulative rather than alternative: for immovable property, mines and quarries and machinery and plant the applicant needs the academic qualification in clause (a) and the service or teaching record in clause (b), with practice offered as a separate alternative route carrying its own income test. The shortened three-year periods and the relaxed two-of-three-years income test are available only to the holder of the specific post-graduate degree in valuation named for that asset class, not to any post-graduate. Sub-rule (6) is the provision that saves most applicants: periods of service, teaching, practice and other relevant experience may be added together, singly or collectively, to reach the ten or five years. Two structural points are easy to miss. Sub-rule (4) bars anyone employed under Government or any other employer, so registration is generally for retired or practising persons, with works of art, virtual digital assets and any class the Board may specify carved out. And sub-rule (3) is not a residual qualification but a residual power — for an asset outside the Table, the qualification is whatever the Principal Chief Commissioner, Chief Commissioner, Principal Director General or Director General decides, and that decision is expressly conclusive. Sub-rule (8) means membership of an institution recognised for civil service recruitment does not count unless it came from passing that institution's examinations.
A civil engineering graduate retires from a private employer after twelve years, at a salary of Rs. 70,000 a month, having worked on designing of structures. He satisfies clause (a)(i) and clause (b)(i)(B) of entry 1 and may apply for registration as a valuer of immovable property. A colleague with the same degree who worked six years in one firm and five in another qualifies too, because sub-rule (6) allows the periods to be taken collectively. Neither can be registered while still employed, by reason of sub-rule (4), and the authority must dispose of the application within six months from the end of the month in which it is made.
An applicant meets it when applying under rule 246(1) for registration as a valuer, and in the order granting or rejecting that application. A taxpayer meets it only at one remove, when checking that the person who signed a valuation report relied on in a return or an assessment is registered for that class of asset.
No person shall qualify for registration as a valuer, other than as a valuer of works of art or virtual digital assets or other class of assets as may be specified by the Board in this behalf, if he is employed under Government or any other employer.
the decision of Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner, or the Principal Director General or Director General in this regard shall be conclusive
within six months from the end of the month in which such application is made
