insight - Income tax vs real property gains tax

GENERALLY, income tax is applied to income, just as real property gains tax is applied to gains on disposal of real properties, whether or not the land is vacant or with buildings erected.

An exception would be where a person has held the land as trading stocks or where the land transaction has elements of badges of trade. The gains from disposal of such land would then be subject to income tax.

Let us say an individual inherited a piece of land. He later entered into a joint venture agreement with a property developer to develop the land into residential properties. To pay for the construction cost of the residential units, he sold part of the land to the developer.