Friday, March 15, 2013

Budget 2013-14: Modified GAAR to Come into effect from A.Y. 2016-17


The General Anti Avoidance Rule (GAAR) was introduced in the Income-tax Act by the Finance Act, 2012. The substantive provisions relating to GAAR are contained in Chapter X-A (consisting of sections 95 to 102) of the Income-tax Act. The procedural provisions relating to mechanism for invocation of GAAR and passing of the assessment order in consequence thereof are contained in section 144BA. The provisions of Chapter X-A as well as section 144BA would have come into force with effect from 1st April, 2014.

A number of representations were received against the provisions relating to GAAR. An Expert Committee was constituted by the Government with broad terms of reference including consultation with stakeholders and finalising the GAAR guidelines and a road map for implementation. The Expert Committee’s recommendations included suggestions for legislative amendments, formulation of rules and prescribing guidelines for implementation of GAAR. The major recommendations of the Expert Committee have been accepted by the Government, with some modifications. Some of the recommendations accepted by the Government require amendment in the provisions of Chapter X-A and section 144BA .

In order to give effect to the recommendations the following amendments have been made in GAAR provisions currently provided in the Act:-

(A)           The provisions of Chapter X-A and section 1 44BA will come into force with effect from April 1, 2016 as against the current date of April 1, 2014. The provisions shall apply from the assessment year 2016-17 instead of assessment year 2014-15.

(B) An arrangement, the main purpose of which is to obtain a tax benefit, would be considered as an impermissible avoidance arrangement. The current provision of section 96 providing that it should be “the main purpose or one of the main purposes” has been proposed to be amended accordingly.

(C) The factors like, period or time for which the arrangement had existed; the fact of payment of taxes by the assessee; and the fact that an exit route was provided by the arrangement, would be relevant but not sufficient to determine whether the arrangement is an impermissible avoidance arrangement. The current provisions of section 97 which provided that these factors would not be relevant has been proposed to be amended accordingly.

(D) An arrangement shall also be deemed to be lacking commercial substance, if it does not have a significant effect upon the business risks, or net cash flows of any party to the arrangement apart from any effect attributable to the tax benefit that would be obtained but for the application of Chapter X-A. The current provisions as contained in section 97 are proposed to be amended to provide that an arrangement shall also be deemed to lack commercial substance if the condition provided above is satisfied.

(E) The Approving Panel shall consist of a Chairperson who is or has been a Judge of a High Court; one Member of the Indian Revenue Service not below the rank of Chief Commissioner of Income-tax; and one Member who shall be an academic or scholar having special knowledge of matters such as direct taxes, business accounts and international trade practices. The current provision of section 144BA ,that the Approving Panel shall consist of not less than three members being income-tax authorities and an officer of the Indian Legal Service has been proposed to be amended accordingly.

(F)  The directions issued by the Approving Panel shall be binding on the assessee as well as the income-tax authorities and no appeal against such directions can be made under the provisions of the Act. The current provisions of section 144BA providing that the direction of the Approving Panel will be binding only on the Assessing Officer have been proposed to be amended accordingly.

(G) The Central Government may constitute one or more Approving Panels as may be necessary and the term of the Approving Panel shall be ordinarily for one year and may be extended from time to time up to a period of three years. The provisions of section 144BA have been proposed to be amended accordingly.

(H) The two separate definitions in the current provisions of section 102, namely, “associated person” and “connected person” will be combined and there will be only one inclusive provision defining a ‘connected person’. The provisions of section 102 have been proposed to be amended accordingly.

Consequential amendments in other sections relating to procedural matters are also proposed.

These amendments will take effect from 1st April, 2016 and will, accordingly, apply in relation to the assessment year 2016-17 and subsequent assessment years.