2016 (10) TMI 535 - AT - Income Tax

Set off of business loss / depreciation of the other units for computing deduction under Section 10A - Held that - Eligibility of exemption under Section 10A of the Act has to be considered independently and the losses of other units cannot be set off. In fact, the order of this Tribunal in Amnet Systems was brought to the notice of the Assessing Officer. The Assessing Officer found that the Department had preferred appeal before the High Court, therefore, to keep the matter alive, he rejected the claim of the assessee. This Tribunal is of the considered opinion that when the matter is pending before the High Court, that cannot be a ground for not following the order of this Tribunal. Thus delete the addition. Claim of the assessee under Section 10A - Held that - Section 10A of the Act provides for deduction for ten assessment years out of 15 assessment years. An option was given to the assessee to select the assessment year in which the deduction is to be allowed. When the assessee has not claimed any deduction for earlier assessment years and selected the assessment year 2006-07, this Tribunal is of the considered opinion that the CIT(Appeals) has rightly allowed the claim of the assessee. For the assessment year 2005-06, XIUS India Ltd. suffered a loss. The loss suffered in the assessment year 2005-06 was carried over to set off against the income of the assessment year 2006-07. When the assessee selected the initial assessment year 2006-07, this Tribunal is of the considered opinion that the CIT(Appeals) has rightly allowed the claim of the assessee. This Tribunal do not find any reason to interfere with the order of the lower authority and accordingly the same is confirmed. MAT applicability on bad debt - Held that - It is not in dispute that what was claimed as bad debt is the amount receivable by the assessee and not payable by the assessee. Therefore, Explanation 1 to Section 115JB of the Act may not be applicable. The debt payable by the assessee was reflected in the asset side in the balance sheet which is not in dispute before the authorities below. Therefore, this Tribunal do not find any reason to interfere with the order of the lower authority and accordingly the same is confirmed. Transfer pricing adjustment on corporate guarantee - Held that - Corporate guarantee given by the assessee does not have bearing on profits, income or assets of the assessee. Therefore, there is no any arm s length price adjustment.

Summary

Issues Involved:
1. Set off of business loss/depreciation for computing deduction under Section 10A of the Income-tax Act.
2. Eligibility for deduction under Section 10A of the Income-tax Act.
3. Disallowance of a provision for doubtful debt while computing book profit under Section 115JB of the Income-tax Act.
4. Adjustment towards arm's length price on corporate guarantee.

Issue-wise Detailed Analysis:

1. Set off of business loss/depreciation for computing deduction under Section 10A of the Income-tax Act:
The primary issue was whether unabsorbed loss should be adjusted before allowing deduction under Section 10A. The Revenue argued that the losses should not be adjusted, while the assessee contended that Section 10A is an exemption provision and losses from other units should not be set off against the profit of the Section 10A unit. The Tribunal, referencing its previous decision in Amnet Systems, upheld that the eligibility for exemption under Section 10A should be considered independently, and losses from other units cannot be set off. The Tribunal noted that the Assessing Officer rejected the claim to keep the matter alive pending High Court decision. However, since the High Court had not stayed the Tribunal’s order in Amnet Systems, the Tribunal ruled that the Assessing Officer should have followed its order, thus confirming the CIT(Appeals)' decision to delete the addition.

2. Eligibility for deduction under Section 10A of the Income-tax Act:
The Revenue contended that the assessee had not filed the necessary declaration for opting out of the Section 10A scheme up to the assessment year 2005-06 and thus was not eligible for deduction. The assessee argued that Section 10A provides an option to select the first year of exemption within a 15-year period and had chosen the assessment year 2006-07 as the first year. The Tribunal found that the CIT(Appeals) rightly allowed the claim since the assessee had not claimed any deduction for earlier years and had selected 2006-07 as the initial assessment year. The Tribunal emphasized that the loss suffered in 2005-06 was carried forward and set off against the income of 2006-07, and thus the CIT(Appeals) correctly allowed the claim.

3. Disallowance of a provision for doubtful debt while computing book profit under Section 115JB of the Income-tax Act:
The Revenue argued that the provision for doubtful debt should not be allowed. The assessee countered that the provision was for debt receivable, not payable, and thus should be allowed. The Tribunal agreed with the assessee, referencing the Supreme Court judgment in CIT v. HCL Comnet Systems & Services Ltd., which distinguished between debt payable and receivable. The Tribunal concluded that Explanation 1 to Section 115JB was not applicable as the debt was receivable and confirmed the CIT(Appeals)' decision to allow the provision for doubtful debt.

4. Adjustment towards arm's length price on corporate guarantee:
The Revenue challenged the CIT(Appeals)' decision to not make an arm's length price adjustment for the corporate guarantee provided by the assessee. The Tribunal upheld the CIT(Appeals)' decision, referencing its earlier ruling in Redington (India) Ltd. v. JCIT, which found that a corporate guarantee does not affect the profits, income, or assets of the assessee and thus does not warrant an arm's length price adjustment. The Tribunal confirmed the CIT(Appeals)' order, dismissing the Revenue's appeal on this ground.

Conclusion:
The Tribunal dismissed all appeals by the Revenue, confirming the CIT(Appeals)' decisions on all issues. The judgment emphasized adherence to previous Tribunal rulings and statutory provisions, ensuring that the assessee's claims were appropriately considered and upheld where justified.