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Our tax laws offer several tax breaks. Many are offered to promote economic development. Some benefits are very handsome and make a considerable difference to the project's economics.
One such benefit is the tax holiday available under section 80IA. This tax holiday is available for new industries. It is a benefit available for several years.
Late last year the government issued an ordinance which extended the tax benefits available under section 80IA to new industries in specified backward districts all over the country. The amended law needs to be understood especially because Andhra Pradesh, too, has backward districts, industries in which can enjoy tax holiday benefits.
Of late, considerable preference is shown while giving tax holiday under section 80IA to infrastructure projects. Like: power projects, projects involved in construction of roads, bridges, airports, railway systems etc; telecommunication projects; mining; research and development etc. Companies involved in such projects get very handsome benefits for a long period. The new amendments extend the tax holiday to such projects even further.
However, as most of you are unlikely to be involved in such projects, we shall discuss here only the new benefits available for industries in backward districts.
Industries in backward districts are eligible to a specified deduction from their total income if they begin production of goods between October 1, 1994 and March 31, 1999. This benefit was actually made available by an amendment in 1995. However, backward districts were not notified for a long time. As such, the benefit was not really available. Now it is.
Backward districts are classified into A and B. Industries in both A and B class of districts are entitled to different tax holiday benefits.
Category A districts are those which are extremely backward. Category B are those which are less backward, but backward nonetheless. This categorisation is done, for the first time, based on several objective criteria. The factors considered are: per capita credit, per capita deposits, urbanisation, phones per 1000 people, per capita power consumption, roads per 100 sq kms of area, factory workers per 1000, gross value addition etc. All these statistics are compiled and compared with all India averages. A total Weighted Index Count is taken. As against an All India Weighted Index of 1500 for all these criteria, where a district has weighted index count of 250 or less, then it is categorised as A. Those between 251 and 500 are categorised as B class districts.
The list of A and B class districts makes interesting reading.
AP has no class A districts and two class B districts. The B category districts in AP are Srikakulam and Mahbubnagar.
The bulk of backward districts are in UP, MP, Bihar and Orissa. It really shows up the difference between these states and the others. A pity.
If yours is an industry that has started production in A category districts within time discussed above, one hundred percent of your profits for five years will be tax-free and twenty five percent of the profits will be tax-free for the next five years.
If yours is an industry that has started production in B category districts within time discussed above, one hundred percent of your profits for three years will be tax-free and twenty five percent of the profits will be tax-free for the next five years.
However, if yours is a company the deduction is 30% and not 25% for the subsequent period.
The tax holiday starts from the initial year - the year in which you begin to manufacture or produce goods.
The tax holiday is available only if you are an industry or cold storage plant. When we say an industry, you should be manufacturing or producing articles or things.
What is 'manufacture' or 'production'? This is a million dollar question. Fortunately, courts have consistently given a wide meaning to these terms. Avoiding lengthy discussion for now, let me say that photo copying, X-Ray imaging, ultrasound scanning, computer data processing are good examples of what also can be manufacture and production of articles and things. Do not, therefore, automatically believe that you are not manufacturing or producing articles. Check it out.
Remember, that even cold storage plants are entitled to tax holiday
The industry must be a new one and not formed out of an old concern. However, a new undertaking by an existing, old company can be eligible for the deduction.
The business must not be formed by transfer to the new business of machinery or plant used previously.
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