Capital gain and income from house property

Anil Das (Service) (22 Points)

24 August 2019  

My IT return for FY 2017-'18 included the following house properties:

House A - Self-occupied, purchased with housing loan, 
House B - Deemed Let-out, purchased with housing loan. 

The scenario during FY 2018-'19 is:

House A - sold in Jun '18, resulted in Long Term Capital Gain of Rs. 15 lakh,
House C - purchased in Aug '18 for Rs. 30 lakh with own contribution of Rs. 3 lakh and housing loan of Rs. 27 lakh,
House B - remains Deemed Let-out.

In view of the above, can you please let me know the following information?

1. Cost of C was higher than Capital Gain from A, and C was purchased soon after sale of A. Although C was purchased with housing loan, hope I can avail the capital gain exemption under Section 54 (as per many judgments of tribunals/courts). Can you please confirm the same?

2. Agreement date for House C (ready-to-move) was 10/07/2018, major/full payment date 25/07/2018 and possession date 04/08/2018. Registration not yet done due to some issues at developer's end. Which date should be considered as date of purchase/construction? Is it possession date or some other date? Can section 54 exemption be availed even if registration not yet done?

3. During FY 2018-'19, we stayed at House A for 3 months before its sale and at House C for 8 months. House B is deemed let-out as before..
I am not sure if I need to show both Houses A & C in 'Income from House Property' tab of ITR2 form for FY 2018-'19 i.e. AY 2019-'20. 
Shall I consider House A as self-occupied and House C deemed let-out?
Or, can House A be deemed let-out and House C self-occupied, as Gross Annual Value is much higher for House C (and hence more deduction if it's self-occupied)? 

Thank You!