20 August 2010
On sale of commercial property held for more than 3 yeards the sale consideration should be used to purchase house property to claim exemption u/s 54F or bond u/s 54EC.
30 August 2010
no, it is not compulsory to invest in a commercial property. you can claim exemption u/s 54 F, if capital gain is long term and you have not more than 1 residential house property on the day of transfer except new one which was purchased for claim exemption. you may invest in specified bonds too, to claim exemption u/s 54 EC.