The Must-Read Analysis of Finance Act 2020, Straight from the Taxmann's Editorial Team.

Taxmann Review Bulletin
A quick review of important Taxes & Laws updates reported on Taxmann.com
April 2020

1 Analysis of the changes in the 02
Finance Bill, 2020 as passed by the
Lok Sabha
CONTENTS

Changes in the
Finance Act, 2020
Viz-a-viz Finance Bill, 2020
1. CHANGES IN PROVISIONS RELATING
TO RESIDENTIAL STATUS
1.1. 120 days to substitute 182 days only if
total income exceeds Rs. 15 lakhs
[Applicable from Assessment Year 2021-22]
Section 6 of the Income-tax Act defines
parameters to determine the residential status
of an assessee. The residential status of an
individual is determined by the number of days
of his stay in India. As per existing section 6(1),
an individual is considered as resident in India
in a financial year if:
a) he is in India for 182 days or more
during the year; or
b) he has been in India for 365 days
or more during the 4 immediately
preceding years and for 60 days or
more during the financial year.
Explanation 1(b) to section 6 provides that in
respect of an Indian citizen and a person of
Indian origin who visits India during the year,
the period of 60 days as mentioned in (b) above
shall be substituted with 182 days. Explanation
1(a) to section 6 also provides similar
concession to the Indian citizen who leaves
India in any previous year as a crew member or
for the purpose of employment outside India.
The Finance Bill, 2020 has proposed an
amendment to the Explanation 1(b) that the
concession in the period of stay in India, for
an Indian citizen and a person of Indian origin,
shall be reduced from 182 days to 120 days. No
amendment has been proposed in Explanation
1(a).
The Finance Act, 2020 has restricted the
application of amended provisions of
Explanation 1(b) only to that Indian citizen or
The budget session was scheduled to end on 03-04-2020 but the house curtailed its
sitting in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak and ended the session on 23-03-2020 by
passing the Finance Bill, 2020.
The Bill which was presented originally in the Lok Sabha on 01-02-2020 has not passed
in its original shape. The Finance Bill, 2020 has been passed with more than 50 changes.
New amendments have been made, scope of some provisions have been expanded,
some proposed amendments are removed, so on and so forth. The Bill has received the
Presidential assent on 27-03-2020.
A snippets of all changes made in the Finance Act, 2020 viz-a-viz the Finance Bill, 2020 as
presented in the Lok Sabha are presented hereunder.

Taxmann Review Bulletin | April 2020 03
a person of Indian origin whose total income,
other than income from foreign sources,
exceeds Rs. 15 lakhs during the previous year.
For this provision, income from foreign sources
means income which accrues or arises outside
India (except income derived from a business
controlled in or a profession set up in India).
1.2. Provision of ‘Deemed Resident’ applicable
if total income exceeds Rs. 15 lakhs
The Finance Bill, 2020 has proposed to insert a
new clause (1A) to section 6 of the Income-tax
Act to provide that an Indian citizen shall be
deemed to be resident in India if he is not liable
to tax in any country or jurisdiction by reason of
his domicile or residence or any other criteria
of similar nature. This change was proposed as
it was noticed that some Indian citizens shift
their stay in low or no tax jurisdiction to avoid
payment of tax in India.
To avoid any misinterpretation and to give
benefit to bonafide persons working in abroad,
the CBDT has issued a clarification on 02-02-
2020 that in case of an Indian citizen who
becomes deemed resident of India under this
proposed provision, income earned outside
India by him shall not be taxed in India unless
it is derived from an Indian business or
profession.
The Finance Act, 2020 introduced new section
6(1A). The new provision provides that an Indian
citizen shall be deemed to be resident in India
only if his total income, other than income from
foreign sources, exceeds Rs. 15 lakhs during the
previous year. For this provision, income from
foreign sources means income which accrues
or arises outside India (except income derived
from a business controlled in or a profession
set up in India).
Other conditions proposed in the Finance Bill,
2020 have been kept same, inter-alia, such
individual shall be deemed to be Indian resident
under the new provision only when he is not
liable to tax in any country or jurisdiction by

Analysis of the changes in the Finance Bill, 2020 as passed by the Lok Sabha04
reason of his domicile or residence or any other
criteria of similar nature.
Thus, from Assessment Year 2021-22, an Indian
Citizen earning total income in excess of Rs. 15
lakhs (other than from foreign sources) shall
be deemed to be resident in India if he is not
liable to pay tax in any country. The residential
status of such person shall of a ‘Not Ordinarily
Resident’ due to new sub-clause (d) added to
Section 6(6). Accordingly, he would be liable
to pay tax in India on his global income other
than the income not derived from a business
controlled in or a profession set up in India.
1.3. Deemed resident to be treated as ‘Not
Ordinarily Resident’
As per Section 6, a resident individual or a
Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) is deemed as Not
Ordinarily Resident in India, if he satisfies any of
the following conditions:
a) Individual or Karta of HUF has been a non-
resident in India for at least 9 years out of
10 years preceding the previous year; or
b) Individual or Karta of HUF has been in
India for 729 days or less during the period
of 7 years preceding the previous year.
The Finance Bill, 2020 has proposed to
rationalize these conditions by providing just
one condition that an Individual/HUF shall be
deemed to be Not Ordinarily Resident if he/
Karta of HUF has been a non-resident in any
7 out of the 10 immediately preceding years.
The second condition has been proposed to be
removed.
This proposed amendment has been withdrawn
in the Finance Act, 2020. Thus, the existing
conditions as contained under section 6(6) of
the Income-tax Act shall continue. However, the
Finance Act, 2020 has inserted the following two
more situations wherein a resident person is
deemed to be ‘Not Ordinarily Resident’ in India:
a) An Indian Citizen or a person of Indian
origin whose total income (other than
income from foreign sources) exceeds
Rs. 15 lakhs during the previous year and
who has been in India for a period of 120
days or more but less than 182 days;
b) An Indian Citizen who is deemed to be
resident in India as per new Section 6(1A).
Class of Total income Minimum no. Whether Residential
Individual (excluding of days of stay liable to Status if stay
income from in India during pay tax in in India is less
foreign the relevant any other than no. of days
sources) year to be country? mentioned in
considered as condition (b)
‘Resident in India’
(a) (b) (c) (d)
Indian citizen Not exceeding Rs. 15 lakhs 182 days Yes Non-resident
going outside
India as a crew Not exceeding Rs. 15 lakhs 182 days No Non-resident
member or for
employment Exceeding Rs. 15 lakhs 182 days Yes Non-resident
Exceeding Rs. 15 lakhs 182 days No Not Ordinarily
Resident*
1.4. Overview

Indian citizen Not exceeding Rs. 15 lakhs 182 days Yes Non-resident
visiting India
visiting India Not exceeding Rs. 15 lakhs 182 days No Non-resident
Exceeding Rs. 15 lakhs 120 days (and 365 Yes Non-resident
days in last 4 years)
Exceeding Rs. 15 lakhs 120 days (and 365 No Not Ordinarily
days in last 4 years) Resident*
Any other Indian Not exceeding Rs. 15 lakhs - Yes Non-resident
citizen (does not
visit India during Not exceeding Rs. 15 lakhs - No Non-resident
the year)
Exceeding Rs. 15 lakhs - Yes Non-resident
Exceeding Rs. 15 lakhs - No Not Ordinarily
Resident
Person of Indian Not exceeding Rs. 15 lakhs 182 days - Non-resident
origin visiting
India Exceeding Rs. 15 lakhs 182 days (and 365 - Not Ordinarily
days in last 4 years) Resident*
Exceeding Rs. 15 lakhs 120 days (and 365 Yes Non-resident
Exceeding Rs. 15 lakhs 120 days (and 365 No Non-resident
* The period of stay in India should be 120 days or more but less than 182 days
2. E-COMMERCE OPERATORS ARE LIABLE
TO PAY EQUALISATION LEVY
2.1. Scope of equalisation levy extended
The Finance Act, 2016 introduced Equalisation
Levy with effect from 01-06-2016. This
levy is charged at the rate of 6% from the
consideration paid or payable to a non-resident
person for the online advertisement services.
The Finance Act, 2020 has extended the scope
of Equalisation Levy to cover within its scope
the consideration received or receivable
for e-commerce supply or services made or
facilitated by an e-commerce operator.
With effect from 01-04-2020, there will two
transaction in respect of which equalisation levy
shall be charged, namely:
a) Sum received or receivable by a non-
resident for the online advertisement
services rendered to a specified persons;
b) Sum received or receivable by an
e-commerce operator from e-commerce
supply of goods or services to specified
persons.
2.2. When equalisation levy shall be charged?
From 01-04-2020, the equalisation levy
shall be charged at the rate of 2% from the
consideration received or receivable by an
e-commerce operator from e-commerce supply
of goods or services made or provided or
facilitated by it to the following persons:
a) A person who is resident in India;
b) A person who buys such goods or services
or both using internet protocol address
located in India;
c) A non-resident person in the following
circumstances:
 Sale of advertisement which targets a
customer who is resident in India or a
customer who accesses the advertisement
through internet protocol address located
in India; and
 Sale of data collected from a person who is
resident in India or from a person who uses
internet protocol address located in India.

2.2-1. Meaning of e-commerce operator
E-commerce operator means a non-resident
who owns, operates or manages digital or
electronic facility or platform for online sale of
goods or online provision of services or both.
2.2-2. Meaning of e-commerce supply or services
E-commerce supply or services means:
a) Online sale of goods owned by the
e-commerce operator;
b) Online provision of services provided by
the e-commerce operator;
c) Online sale of goods or provision of
services or both facilitated by the
e-commerce operator; or
d) Any combination of above activities
2.3. When equalisation levy shall not be
charged?
As per Section 165A(2) of the Finance Act, 2016,
the equalisation levy shall not be charged in the
following three circumstances:
2.3-1. Online advertisement service covered
under Section 165
Equalisation levy under Section 165 (from
sum received or receivable from online
advertisement services) and equalisation levy
under new Section 165A (from online sale of
goods and services) are mutually exclusive
provisions. Equalisation levy under Section 165A
shall not be charged if it is subject to levy under
Section 165. However, the preference shall be
given to Section 165. In other words, if nature
of a transaction is such that the equalisation
levy can be charged both under Section 165
and Section 165A, it shall be charged under
Section 165. The preference to Section 165 has
been given because levy is charged under this
provision at the higher rate of 6% in contrast to
2% under Section 165A.
2.3-2. Consideration is less than threshold limit
Equalisation levy shall not be charged if
the sale, turnover or gross receipts of the
e-commerce operator from e-commerce supply
or services made or provided or facilitated to
the persons mentioned above is less than Rs. 2
crore during the previous year.
It is to be noted that limit of Rs. 2 crore is not
buyer specific and shall include total turnover
from all the specified buyers. Thus, where
the total turnover of e-commerce operator
from specified buyers exceeds Rs. 2 crore in a
financial year, it has to pay equalisation levy of
2% on its total turnover from said buyers.
2.3-3. E-Commerce operator has a PE in India
Equalisation levy shall not be charged if the
e-commerce operator has a PE in India and the
service is effectively connected with such PE.
This immunity has been given as the source
country has an absolute right to tax the income
generated by a foreign enterprise which is
attributable to a PE situated in the source
country. Thus, the revenue generated by an
e-commerce operator (who also have a PE in
India) from Indian operations shall be taxable in
India as per normal provisions of the Income-
tax Act.
2.4. Who is liable to pay equalisation levy?
Section 166 contains provisions for collection
and recovery of equalisation levy on online
advertisement services. A new Section 166A has
been introduced for collection and recovery of
equalisation levy on online supply of goods and
services.
Section 166 casts the obligations on the
payer to deduct equalisation levy from the
sum paid or payable to the non-resident
advertiser. However, Section 166A shifts this
obligation to deposit the equalisation levy on
the e-commerce operator. Thus, any person
responsible for paying any sum to a non-
resident e-commerce operator will not be liable
to withhold the amount towards equalisation
levy and deposit it with the Central Govt. This
obligation is of e-commerce operator only.
2.5. Due date for deposit of equalisation levy
Unlike the equalisation levy on online
advertisement services which is payable on
monthly basis by 7th day of the next month, the
equalisation levy in respect of online supply of
goods and services shall be paid to the credit
of central government on quarterly basis. The
due dates for payment of equalisation levy in

Period Due date
April 1st – June 30th 7th July
July 1st – September 30th 7th October
October 1st – December 31st 7th January
January 1st – March 31st 31st March
respect of online supply of goods and services
have been prescribed in the below table:
furnished on or before 30th June of the financial
year immediately following the financial year in
which equalisation levy is chargeable.
2.7-2. Manner of furnishing
Statement of equalisation levy is to be
furnished in Form 1. Such form can be
furnished in the following manner:
a) Electronically under digital signature; or
b) Electronically through EVC (Electronic
Verification Code) i.e. a code generated
for the purpose of electronic verification
of the person furnishing statement.
2.7-3. Belated or Revised Statement
Any e-commerce operator who has not
furnished statement by the due date, he can
furnish such statement at any time before the
expiry of 2 years from the end of the financial
year in which such e-commerce supply or
services was made or facilitated.
Similarly, an e-commerce operator who
has furnished such statement, notices any
omissions or wrong particulars therein, he
may furnish a revised statement at any time
before the expiry of 2 years from the end of the
financial year in which such e-commerce supply
or services was made or facilitated.
2.8. Other provisions
Other provisions relating to processing of
statement, appeal, prosecution, etc. are same
both in respect of equalisation levy payable
under Section 165 or 165A. All consequential
amendments have been made in other
provisions.
3. NO TAX ON INCOME ARISING FROM
E-COMMERCE SUPPLY ON WHICH
EQUALIZATION LEVY IS CHARGEABLE
Section 10(50) of the Income-tax Act provides
that incomes in respect of which equalization
levy has been charged shall be exempt from
tax. Hence, no Income-tax would be charged
on consideration received or receivable for
specified services which are subject to such
levy.
2.6. Consequences of late payment
2.6-1. Interest
An e-commerce operator who fails to deposit
the equalisation levy to the credit of central
government by due date shall be liable for
payment of simple interest at the rate of 1% of
such levy for every month or part of the month
during which such failure continues.
2.6-2. Penalty
A payer is liable to deduct the equalisation
levy under Section 165 in respect of online
advertisement services, thus, penalty may be
charged on him for two defaults – one for not
deducting the equalisation levy, and second, for
deducting but not depositing the levy with in
the due dates.
However, for the equalisation levy payable
under Section 165A, the penalty is levied only
on the e-commerce operator on its failure to
deposit the levy with the Indian Govt. Where
an e-commerce operator fails to pay whole or
any part of the equalisation levy required to be
paid by him, he shall be liable for payment of
penalty of an amount equals to the amount of
equalisation levy that he failed to pay.
2.7. Statement of equalisation levy
Every e-commerce operator shall prepare
and deliver or cause to deliver a statement of
equalisation levy in respect of all e-commerce
supply or services during such financial year.
Such statement is required to be filed with the
Assessing Officer or to any other authority or
agency authorised by the Board in this behalf.
2.7-1. Due Date
Statement of equalisation levy is required to be

The Finance Act, 2020 has extended the scope
of Equalisation Levy to cover within its scope
the consideration received or receivable
for e-commerce supply or services made or
facilitated by an e-commerce operator. Thus,
with effect from 01-04-2020, there will be two
transactions in respect of which equalisation
levy shall be charged, namely:
a) Sum received or receivable by a non-
resident for the online advertisement
services rendered to specified persons;
b) Sum received or receivable by an
e-commerce operator from e-commerce
supply of goods or services to specified
persons.
Consequential amendments have been made
to section 10(50) to give tax exemption for the
income arising from any e-commerce supply or
services made, on or after 01-04-2020, on which
equalization levy is chargeable.
4. SCOPE OF SECTION 194N EXPANDED
[With effect from 01-07-2020]
4.1. Threshold of Rs. 1 crore of cash
withdrawal
To discourage cash transactions and to move
towards the cash-less economy, a new Section
194N has been inserted in the Income-tax
Act vide the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2019. This
provision requires deduction of tax by a banking
company or a co-op. bank or a post office at the
rate of 2% from the amount withdrawn in cash
from any account (saving or current account)
if the aggregate of the amount of withdrawn
from one or more account exceeds Rs. 1 crore
during the year. The tax shall be deducted on
the amount exceeding Rs. 1 crore only.
The Finance Act, 2020 has expanded the scope
of this provision by substituting the existing
section with a new Section 194N. The new
section provides different tax rates for two
different class of persons. Further, it also
prescribes two threshold limits. The analysis of
the new section 194N is given below.
As per the new section 194N, a banking
company or a co-op. bank or a post office which
is responsible for paying any sum, being the
amount or the aggregate of amounts, in cash
exceeding Rs. 1 crore during the previous year,
to any person from one or more account, shall
at time of payment of such sum, deduct 2% of
such sum as income-tax.
The language used in Section 194N gives the
following two interpretations:
1) First, whether tax has to be deducted
from the whole amount when it exceeds
Rs. 1 crore? and
2) Second, whether tax has to be deducted
from the amount exceeding Rs. 1 crore?
The first view is far-fetched that tax should be
deducted from the whole amount as it may
cause many practical difficulties. The second
view is more logical and also matches with the
previous provision. Further, to substantiate
that the second view should be acceptable, we
should consider the meaning of the following
terms:
a) Sum
b) Exceeding
c) Such Sum
4.1-1. ‘Sum’
The word ‘sum’ is generally used to convey
the meaning of ‘amount’. The Reader's Digest
Great Encyclopaedic Dictionary gives one of the
meanings of ‘sum’ as ‘a quantity or amount of or
of money’.
4.1-2. ‘Exceeding’
The term ‘exceed’ and the qualifying adjective
like ‘exceeding’ are relative terms. It indicates
going over or topping or over and above of
what preceded or what is set as the basic
standard or limit. It may be concluded that the
‘sum’ used under section 194N shall be treated
as ‘sum’ ‘over and above’ Rs. 1 crore.
4.1-3. ‘Such Sum’
In New Webster's Dictionary and Thesaurus,
the meaning of ‘such’ is given as something
just mentioned (used to avoid the repetition of
one word twice in a sentence). Thus, generally
speaking, the use of the word ‘such’ as an
adjective prefixed to a noun is indicative of the
draftsman's intention that he is assigning the
same meaning or characteristic to the noun

Situations Due date for
filing of return
If assessee is required to furnish a 30th
November
report of transfer pricing (TP)
Audit in Form No. 3CEB
Company assessee not required 30th
September
to furnish transfer pricing audit
report in Form No. 3CEB
If assessee is required to get its 30th
September1
accounts audited under Income-tax
Act or under any other law
If Individual is a working partner2
30th
September1
in a firm whose accounts are
required to be audited.
In any other case 31st
July
as has been previously indicated or that he is
referring to something which has been said
before.
Therefore, for section 194N, ‘such sum’ should
be taken as similar to ‘sum’ paid to a person.
Consequently, it may be concluded that the
tax shall be deducted only on the ‘sum’ which
triggers the obligation to deduct tax, i.e., when
the sum withdrawn exceeds the threshold
limit of Rs. 1 crore or Rs. 20 lakh, as the case
may be. The first para of the Section contains
three provisions – obligation to deduct tax,
time of deduction and rate of TDS. The use of
expression ‘such sum’ establishes that the time
of deduction and the rate of TDS depends on
the ‘sum’ which triggers the obligation to deduct
tax. When obligation to deduct tax arises on
crossing the threshold of Rs. 1 crore, the tax to
be deducted only on the sum exceeding such
threshold limit.
4.2. Threshold of Rs. 20 lakhs and Rs. 1 crore
of cash withdrawal
A new proviso has been inserted to Section
194N, which changes the threshold limit for
deduction of tax from Rs. 1 crore to Rs. 20 lakh
if the person, has not filed return of income
(ITR) for three previous years immediately
preceding the previous year in which cash is
withdrawn, and the due date for filing ITR under
section 139(1) has expired. The deduction of tax
under this situation shall be at the rate of:
a) 2% from the amount withdrawn in
cash if the aggregate of the amount of
withdrawal exceeds Rs. 20 lakhs during
the previous year; or
b) 5% from the amount withdrawn in
cash if the aggregate of the amount of
withdrawal exceeds Rs. 1 crore during the
previous year.
In the above situation, the tax shall be deducted
on the amount exceeding Rs. 20 lakhs or Rs. 1
crore, as the case may be.
It is going to be a cumbersome task for
the banks to ensure that this condition has
triggered so that tax shall be deducted at the
higher rate and from the reduced threshold
limit. Banks will now require to ask the account
holders to submit the proof of filing of return
for preceding 3 financial years. As different due
dates have been prescribed in Section 139(1)
for filing of return, banks may not find it easy to
substantiate that they were filed within the due
date specified in section 139(1).
The due dates for the different class of
taxpayers under section 139(1) are as below:
1. The due date has been changed from ‘September 30’ to ‘October 31’ by the Finance Act, 2020, with effect from Assessment Year 2020-21.
2. Earlier the extended due date was allowed only to the working partners. The Finance Act, 2020 has extended the benefit of extended due date to
all partners in a partnership firm liable to tax audit under Section 44AB.
4.3. Exclusion from the provision
The exclusion provided previously in the section
194N has been continued in the new section
194N. However, the Govt. may specify the
recipient to whom the provisions of this section
shall not apply or apply at the reduced tax rate.
Further, no tax shall be deducted if the amount
is withdrawn by the following recipients:
a) Central or State Government
b) Banks
c) Co-op. Banks
d) Post Office

e) Banking correspondents
f) White label ATM operators
g) Other persons notified by the Govt. in
consultation with the RBI.
5. AMENDMENT IN TCS PROVISIONS TO
REMOVE CERTAIN AMBIGUITIES
In the Finance Bill, 2020, the provisions relating
to TCS were amended to require collection of
tax from a person remitting the amount outside
India under Liberalised Remittance Scheme
(LRS) or buying an overseas tour program
package.
LRS is a scheme of RBI which allows a resident
individual to freely remit out of India up to USD
2,50,000 per financial year for any permissible
current account transaction such as travel,
medical treatment, studies abroad, etc.
For this purpose, a new sub-section (1G) was
proposed to be inserted in section 206C of the
Income-tax Act which requires the collection
of tax by an authorised dealer who receives an
amount or aggregate amount of Rs. 7 lakh or
more during the financial year from a person
for remitting such amount out of India under
LRS. The tax shall be required to be collected at
the rate of 5% of such amount.
In respect of overseas tour program package,
it is provided in the said sub-section (1G) that
a seller of such package shall be required to
collect tax from buyer thereof. The seller shall
be required to collect tax at the rate of 5% of
the amount received from the buyer.
Further, the Finance Bill, 2020 has proposed
to insert a new sub-section (1H) under section
206C to provide for the collection of tax from
the sale of goods other than those already
covered under TCS provisions.
The Finance Act, 2020 has amended sub-section
(1H) to provide that no tax shall be collected
in respect of export or import of goods.
Further, the following ambiguities in the newly
introduced sub-section (1G) of section 206C
have been addressed:
5.1. Clarification as to threshold limit for
collection of tax
Liability of an authorised dealer to collect the
tax from a person remitting amount out of India
under LRS arises only when the amount or
aggregate of such amount remitted during the
year is Rs. 7 lakh or more. However, it was not
specified in the proposed sub-section (1G) that
whether authorized dealer shall be required to
collect tax on the entire amount or only on the
amount in excess of Rs. 7 lakh?
In this respect, a new proviso has been inserted
in sub-section (1G) by the Finance Act, 2020 to
provide that tax shall be collected only on the
amount in excess of Rs. 7 lakh except where the
remittance has been made for overseas tour
program package.
5.2. No threshold limit to apply for collection
of tax from foreign currency remitted for
the tour package
In case of an overseas tour program package,
the seller of such package is required to collect
tax from the buyer at the rate of 5% irrespective
of the amount he receives from the buyer for
such package. Thus, no threshold limit has
been proposed where a buyer directly makes
payment to the seller of the overseas tour
program package. As overseas travel is also
covered under the Liberalised Remittance
Scheme of RBI, a buyer may make payment to
seller indirectly through an authorized dealer.
In this situation, the authorized dealer is
required to collect tax only when the amount to
be remitted out of India is Rs. 7 lakh or more.
Whereas, there is no such limit when a buyer
makes payment to the seller directly. Thus,
buyer’s making payment for overseas travel
to a seller through an authorized dealer is at
advantage as compared to buyer’s who makes
payment directly to the seller.
To rationalise this situation and make things
equal in both the cases, the Finance Act, 2020
amends sub-section (1G) to provide that an
authorised dealer shall be required to collect
tax from the buyer of overseas tour program
package irrespective of the amount to be
remitted out of India for that purpose. Thus,

authorised dealer shall be required to collect
tax even if the amount or aggregate the
amounts being remitted by the buyer for the
overseas tour package in a financial year is less
than Rs. 7 lakh.
As a buyer of an overseas tour program
package can make payment in respect of
overseas tour package to the seller either
directly or through an authorized dealer, both
seller and the authorized dealer may collect
tax from the buyer on the same amount
which results in the double collection of tax.
To remove this ambiguity, a proviso has been
inserted under sub-section (1G) by the Finance
Act, 2020 to provide that the authorised dealer
shall not collect the tax on an amount in respect
of which the tax has already been collected by
the seller.
5.3. Tax to be collected at a lower rate if
foreign currency is remitted towards loan
repayment
The Finance Act, 2020 amends sub-section (1G)
to provide for a lower rate of 0.5% for collection
of tax by an authorised dealer where the
amount being remitted out of India is a loan,
which is obtained from a banking company
(including any bank or banking institution) or
any other financial institution notified by the
Central Government for section 80E, for the
purpose of pursuing any education.
5.4. No requirement to collect TCS from
export or import of Goods
The Finance Bill, 2020 has proposed to insert
a new sub-section (1H) under section 206C to
provide for the collection of tax from the sale of
goods other than those already covered under
any other sub-section of section 206C.
The Finance Act, 2020 has amended the said
sub-section (1H) to provide that no tax shall
be required to be collected in respect of goods
exported out of India and goods imported into
India.
5.5. Deferment of the date of applicability of
the amendments made to TCS provisions
The Finance Bill, 2020 has proposed certain
amendments to the provisions relating to TCS
which were originally proposed to be effective
from 01-04-2020.
The Finance Act, 2020 has deferred the
applicability of such amendments. Now, they
will be effective from 01-10-2020.
6. CENTRAL GOVERNMENT IS
EMPOWERED TO PROVIDE FOR A LOWER
RATE OF TDS UNDER SECTION 194A
As per section 194A of the Income-tax Act, every
person (other than an individual or HUF, whose
turnover or gross receipt during the preceding
year does not exceed Rs. 1 crore in the case
of business and Rs. 50 lakhs in case of the
profession) is required to deduct tax at the rate
of 10% from interest, other than on securities,
paid or payable to a resident person.
Section 194A(3) contains various clauses,
inter-alia, clause (i) to clause (xi), to provide an
exemption from deduction of tax in certain
cases. For instance, as per clause (iii), no tax is
required to be deducted by a person from the
interest paid or payable to a Bank, Financial
Corporation, Insurance Company or such other
institutions or bodies as may be notified by the
Central Government. Various persons had been
notified for this purpose by the Government
through various notifications.
In the Finance Act, 2020, the said clause (iii)
of sub-section (3) of section 194A has been
amended to provide that no notification
shall be issued by the Central Government in
respect of the said clause on or after 01-04-
2020. A new sub-section (5) has been inserted
to provide the absolute powers to the Central
Government whereby in addition to notifying
the cases where no tax shall be deducted,
the Government shall also have the power
to provide for the lower rate of tax in certain
cases.
In other words, the aforesaid amendments
empower the Central Government with
absolute authority to provide an exemption
from deduction of tax or deduction at the lower
rate for entire section 194A instead of issuing
notifications clause-wise or sub-section wise.

A similar amendment has also been made
to Section 197A. As per current provisions of
Section 197A(1F), no deduction of tax shall
be made from the specified payment to such
institution, as may be notified by the Central
Government in this behalf. To empower the
Central Govt. to notify the specified payments
for both nil deduction of tax and lower
deduction of tax, the sub-section (1F) of Section
197A has been substituted. The new sub-section
provides that no deduction of tax shall be made
or deduction of tax shall be made at a specified
lower rate by the deductor in cases notified by
the Central Government.
7. ROYALTY IN RESPECT OF EXHIBITION
OF CINEMATOGRAPHIC FILMS TO
ATTRACT TDS AT THE RATE OF 2% UNDER
SECTION 194J
Every person (other than an individual or HUF
whose turnover or gross receipts during the
preceding year does not exceed Rs. 1 crore in
case of business and Rs. 50 lakhs in case of
the profession) is required to deduct tax under
section 194J while making payment of royalty,
fee for technical services, fee for professional
services, director’s fee and non-compete fees
to a resident person. The tax is required to
be deducted at the rate of 10%. However,
where the payee is engaged in the business of
operation of the call centre, the tax is deducted
at a lower rate of 2%.
In the Finance Bill, 2020, the Government has
proposed to reduce the rate of withholding tax
to 2% from existing 10% under section 194J in
respect of fees for technical services to reduce
the litigation as deductors always try to bring
the said payments within the ambit of Section
194C, whereas department argues to treat it as
FTS under section 194J.
In the Finance Act, 2020 the Government
has reduced the rate of tax deduction to
2% on royalty income arising to a person
by way of sale, distribution or exhibition of
cinematographic films. This will provide relief to
the film distributors as currently tax is deducted
at the rate of 10% on revenue they earn from
sale, distribution or exhibition right of the film
which block their working capital.
8. NO TDS UNDER SECTION 194K FROM
CAPITAL GAINS ARISING ON TRANSFER
OF UNITS OF MUTUAL FUNDS
With effect from 01-04-2020, the Finance
Bill, 2020 proposed to abolish the Dividend
Distribution Tax and move to the traditional
system of taxation wherein mutual funds do not
pay tax on distributed income and, the unit-
holders are liable to pay tax on such income at
the applicable tax rate. To ensure the collection
of tax, a new Section 194K has been proposed to
be introduced which require the Mutual Funds
to deduct tax at the rate of 10% while making
payment of income to the unit-holders.
The stakeholders had raised doubts about the
deduction of tax from the capital gains that
may arise on maturity or transfer of mutual
funds, which the CBDT vide Press release, dated
04-02-2020, has clarified that the tax under this
provision is required to be deducted only from
the dividend payment. No tax is required to be
deducted from the sum payable which is in the
nature of capital gains.
To remove any ambiguity, section 194K explicitly
provides that no tax shall be deducted while
making payment in respect of capital gain
arising from transfer from units.
9. DEFINITION OF ‘E-COMMERCE
OPERATOR’ AMENDED TO REMOVE
AMBIGUITY UNDER SECTION 194-O
The Finance Bill, 2020 has proposed to insert a
new section 194-O to provide for deduction of
tax from the payment made by an e-commerce
operator to e-commerce participant for the sale
of goods or provision of services through a digital
or electronic facility or platform facilitated by it.
This section provides that any payment made by
the purchaser of goods or recipient of services
directly to the e-commerce participant, for sale of
goods or services facilitated by an e-commerce
operator, shall be deemed as the amount
paid or credited by the e-commerce operator.
Whereas the section has defined e-commerce
operator as the person responsible for payment
to e-commerce participant. Thus, the provision
deeming the payment made by the customer as
payment made by an e-commerce operator. This
interpretation is contradictory to the definition

of e-commerce operator as an e-commerce
operator is not actually making payment to
e-commerce participant in such cases.
To remove this ambiguity, the Finance Act, 2020
has amended the definition of e-commerce
operator to remove the condition that requires
an e-commerce operator to make payment to
e-commerce participant.
Further, the CBDT has been empowered to issue
guidelines for removing the difficulties arising in
giving effect to the provisions of section 194-
O. Each such guideline shall be binding on the
Income-tax authorities and the e-commerce
operator.
10. UNIT-HOLDERS OF BUSINESS TRUST
SHALL NOT BE EXEMPT FROM PAYING
TAX ON DIVIDEND IF SPVOPTS FOR
SECTION 115BAA
10.1. Taxability of dividend income
Business Trusts (Real Estate Investment Trusts
(REITs) or Infrastructure Investment Trusts
(InVITs)) have been provided the status of
pass-through entities under the Income-tax
Act whereby they are allowed to pass certain
incomes to their unit holders without paying
tax thereon and, consequently, such income is
taxable in the hands of the unit-holders.
The structure of a business trust is similar to that
of a mutual fund wherein sponsor sets up the
REITs or InVITs to collect money from the general
public for investing on their behalf in income-
generating real estate properties or infrastructure
activities. The investment is made either by REITs
or InVITs directly or through Special Purpose
Vehicle (SPV), being an Indian company, in which
the business trust holds the controlling interest
and 50% or more equity share capital.
The taxability of business trust is governed by
sections 115UA, 10(23FC) and 10(23FD) of the
Income-tax Act whereby business trusts can
pass certain incomes to its unit holders without
paying the tax at their end due to specific
exemption provided under section 10(23FC)
and, consequently, such income is taxable in
the hands of the unit holders. Incomes which a
business trust can pass to its unit holders are as
follows:
a) Interest received from Special Purpose
Vehicle (SPV);
b) Dividend received from SPV; and
c) Rental income of REITs from real estate
property.
Thus, if a business trust distributes the aforesaid
incomes to its unit holders then such income
shall be taxable in the hands of the unit holders
under section 115UA as if they have earned
such income by directly investing in SPV or real
estate properties. All other incomes which a
business trust distributes to its unit holders
shall be exempt in the hands of the unit holders
under section 10(23FD) of the Income-tax Act.
The Finance Act, 2020 makes an amendment to
section 10(23FD) to provide that no exemption
shall available to a unit holder of business trust
in respect of a dividend received from SPV if
such SPV has exercised the option of section
115BAA of the Income-tax Act.
Section 115BAA was introduced with effect
from Assessment Year 2020-21 through the
Taxation Laws (Amendment) Act, 2019 to
provide for a concessional tax rate of 22% in
case of domestic companies which do not claim
specific deductions, exemptions and allowances.
Section 115BAA has been inserted to simplify
the tax structure and to reduce the litigations
arising due to numerous tax exemptions and
deductions. The new corporate tax regime
reduces the tax rates to 22%, but in return, the
companies have to forego certain exemptions
and deductions.
The amendment made to Section 10(23FD) by
the Finance Act, 2020 restricts dual benefit to a
business trust or its unit-holders if SPV opts for
section 115BAA. If an SPV is paying tax on its
profit under Section 115BAA at the lower rates,
the profit distributed to unit-holders by way
of dividend through business trust, would not
be exempt from tax. In other words, the unit-
holders of a business trust would be exempt
from paying tax on dividend if an SPV does not
opt for tax regime of section 115BAA.
The taxability of dividend distributed by SPV
after the Finance Act, 2020 can be explained
with the help of the following table:

Particulars SPV opts SPV does not Comments
for section opt for section
115BAA 115BAA
IIs SPV liable to pay DDT on dividend No No DDT has been abolished by the
distributed to business trust? Finance Bill, 2020. Thus, SPV shall
not be required to pay DDT on
distribution of dividend to
business trust*.
Is business trust liable to pay tax on No No Dividend received from SPV by the
dividend received or receivable business trust shall be exempt from
from SPV? tax under section 10(23FC).
Is unit-holder liable to pay tax on Yes No The Finance Act, 2020 provides an
dividend received from a exemption under section 10(23FD)
business trust? to unit-holders only if SPV doesn’t
opt for section 115BAA.
The dividend shall be taxable in the
hands of the unit holder if SPV opts
for section 115BAA.
* An SPV was not liable to pay DDT even before the abolition of DDT by the Finance Bill, 2020 but only when a business trust holds the whole of
the nominal value of equity share capital of the SPV.
10.2. Consequential amendment to section
194LBA
Section 194LBA provides for deduction of tax
at source by a business trust from income
distributed to unit-holders. As dividend received
by a unit-holder from a business trust will be
exempt from tax if an SPV does not opt for
section 115BAA, the consequential amendment
has also been made to section 194LBA to
provide that no tax shall be deducted in such
cases.
A new sub-section (2A) is inserted under section
194LBA which reads as under:
“Nothing contained in sub-sections (1) and (2)
shall apply in respect of income of the nature
referred to in sub-clause (b) of clause (23FC)
of section 10, if the special purpose vehicle
referred to in the said clause has not exercised
the option under section 115BAA.”
Sub-section (1) and sub-section (2) of section
194LBA provides for deduction of tax from
income distributed to unit-holders by a
business trust. Sub-clause (b) of clause (23FC)
of section 10 talks about dividend received or
receivable from SPV.
Section (2A) has been inserted to provide that
no tax shall be deducted by a business trust
from dividend distributed to the unit-holders
provided such dividend is distributed out of
sum received as dividend from an SPV and the
SPV has not exercised the option under section
115BAA. In other words, if SPV has opted for
section 115BAA then section 194LBA requires
business trust to deduct tax from dividend
distributed to unit-holders.
11. SCOPE OF DEDUCTION UNDER
SECTION 80M IN RESPECT OF INTER-
CORPORATE DIVIDEND EXPANDED
system of taxation wherein companies do not
pay DDT on dividend and, the shareholders
are liable to pay tax on such income at the
applicable tax rate. To remove the cascading
effect where a domestic company receives
dividend from another domestic company, a
new section 80M has been introduced. This
section provides that inter-corporate dividend
received by a domestic co. from another
domestic co. shall be reduced from the total
income of that company that further distributes
such dividend income to the shareholders
within one month before the due date of filing
of return.

The Finance Act, 2020 expanded the scope
of deduction available under Section 80M to
include the dividend received from a foreign
company and business trust. Thus, a domestic
company can claim deduction under section
80M even in those cases where dividend
received from a foreign company or business
trust is further distributed to shareholders
within one month before the due date of filing
of return.
12. RATE OF TDS ON DIVIDEND
DISTRIBUTED TO A NON-RESIDENT OR
FOREIGN COMPANY
pay DDT on dividend and, the shareholders are
liable to pay tax on such income. As dividend
shall be taxable in the hands of shareholders,
the domestic companies are also required
to deduct tax while distributing the dividend
income to shareholders.
Where the dividend is received by a person
resident in India, it shall be chargeable to tax
at normal tax rates as applicable in his case.
Further, the person paying the dividend shall be
required to deduct tax under section 194 at the
rate of 10%.
The taxability of dividend income in the
hands of a non-resident or foreign company
is governed by the provisions of the domestic
law or provisions of double taxation avoidance
agreements (DTAA), whichever is more
beneficial to the assessee. As per the Income-
tax Act, the dividend received by a non-resident
person or a foreign company is taxable at the
special rate of 20%. Whereas, as per most of
the DTAAs India has entered into with foreign
countries, the dividend is taxable in the source
country in the hands of the beneficial owner of
shares at the rate ranging from 5% to 15% of
the gross amount of the dividends.
The person paying the amount of dividend to
a non-resident person or a foreign company
shall deduct tax under section 195 at the ‘rates
in force’, which is provided in Part-II of the First
Schedule of the Finance Act. In the Finance Bill,
2020, though the relevant amendments had
been proposed for taxability of dividend income
in hands of shareholders and deduction of tax
therefrom. But, Part-II of the First Schedule of
the Finance Act was not amended to provide a
specific rate for deduction of tax in respect of
dividend income. Thus, dividend income was
falling in the residuary entry of Part-II of the
First Schedule of the Finance Act which provides
for deduction of tax at the rate of 30% in case
of a non-resident and 40% in case of a foreign
company. Thus, the tax would have been
required to be deducted at a very higher rate in
such cases.
This issue has been resolved in the Finance
Act, 2020, Part-II of First Schedule is amended
to provide the rate of deduction of tax from
dividend income distributed to a foreign
company, non-resident Indian or other non-
resident person. In case of all such persons, the
tax shall be withheld from the dividend income
at the rate of 20%. However, where dividend
income of a non-resident person is chargeable
to tax at the reduced rate as per the provision
of Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement
(DTAA) then tax shall be deducted at a rate
provided under DTAA.
13. AMENDMENTS MADE TO SECTION
10(23C) TO REMOVE CONFLICTING
PROVISIONS
13.1. Corpus donations received by Section
10(23C) institutions will be exempt from tax
If institutions, registered under section 12AA,
receive any income in the form of voluntary
contributions with a specific direction that it
should form part of the corpus of the trust or
institution, it shall not be included in the total
income of such trust or institution. However, no
such specific exemption was available to entities
registered under section 10(23C). Hence, it was
always a matter of litigation, compelling the
institutions coming within the scope of section
10(23C) to apply even their corpus donations
for getting the benefit of exemption. This was
prejudicial to them because they cannot build
up the corpus fund in the absence of specific
exemption available to them.

The Finance Act, 2020 inserted an Explanation
to the Third Proviso to Section 10(23C) to clarify
that the corpus donations shall not form part
of the income of such institutions. It has been
provided that any corpus donations received
by such fund or institution or any university or
other educational institution or any hospital or
other medical institution, shall not be included
in the income of such entities.
Hence, institutions or funds availing exemption
under section 10(23C) now specifically get the
exclusion from the requirement of mandatory
application of income in respect of ‘corpus
donations’. This amendment brings exemption
available to institutions registered under section
10(23C), for the corpus donations, at par with
exemption available to trusts or institutions
registered under section 12A/12AA/12AB.
13.2. Corpus donation not to be considered
as an application of Income
As per extant provisions, entities registered
under section 12A/12AA are provided with
the benefit of exemption in respect of corpus
donations. Any contribution by a charitable
or religious trust to any other trust registered
under Section 12AA, with a specific direction
that it shall form part of the corpus of recipient
trust is not considered as an application of
income for the donor trust.
A similar provision is contained in the
Twelfth Proviso to Section 10(23C) that any
contribution by fund or trust or institution or
any university or other educational institution
or any hospital or other medical institution [as
referred to in sub-clause (iv) or sub-clause (v)
or sub-clause (vi) or sub-clause (via) of Section
10(23C)], with a specific direction to the trust
or institution registered under section 12AA
that it shall form part of the corpus of recipient
trust, consequently, it shall not be treated as
application of income for the donor. Currently,
this restriction was only in respect of corpus
donations made to entities registered under
section 12AA.
The Finance Act, 2020 provides that the corpus
donations shall not form part of the income of
the funds or institutions availing the benefit of
section 10(23C). A consequential amendment
has also been made that corpus donations
by one such entity to another entity shall
not be treated as application of income. In
other words, the corpus donation by fund or
trust or institution or any university or other
educational institution or any hospital or other
medical institution referred to in sub-clause
(iv) or sub-clause (v) or sub-clause (vi) or sub-
clause (via) to another such fund shall not be
considered as an application of income. This
has been done to ensure that these institutes
do not avail the dual benefit, i.e., exemption of
income as well as the application of income.
14. NO DEDUCTION OF CORPUS
DONATIONS MADE TO SECTION 10(23C)
APPROVED INSTITUTIONS
[Section 11]
Income derived from property held under trust,
wholly for charitable or religious purpose, is
exempt from tax to the extent such income
is applied to such purposes in India. Where
any such income is accumulated or set apart
for application to such purposes in India, the
income so accumulated or set apart is also
exempt to the extent it is not in excess of 15%
of the income from such property. However, the
donations by a charitable institution to another
trust are considered as an application of income
except the donation made with a specific
direction that it shall form part of the corpus
of the donee. At present, any contribution by
a charitable or religious trust registered under
section 12AA to any other trust registered
under Section 12AA, with a specific direction
that it shall form part of corpus of recipient
trust shall not be treated as application of
income for the donor trust.
The Finance Act, 2020 provides that any
corpus donation made by trust or institution
registered under section 12AA to any fund or
trust or institution or any university or other
educational institution or any hospital or other
medical institution referred to in sub-clause (iv)
or sub-clause (v) or sub-clause (vi) or sub-clause
(via) of section 10(23C) shall not be treated as
an application of income.
In view of this amendment, corpus donation

given by a Section 12AA registered institution
to section 10(23C) approved institution will not
be treated as an application of income. This
amendment has been introduced so that these
institutions do not avail the dual benefit of
exemption as the corpus donations received by
institutions approved under section 10(23C) shall
not be treated as an income in their hands.
Example, A charitable institution approved
under section 12AA has an income of Rs. 5 Lakh
during the year. It applied income for charitable
purposes to the tune of Rs. 3.75 Lakhs. It also
made corpus donation of Rs. 50,000 to an
educational institution approved under section
10(23C). The income in such case, before and
after amendment shall be computed as under:
Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) as the name
suggest is an investment fund which is primarily
owned by the Government of any Country. SWF
invests globally in real and financial assets such
as stocks, bonds, real estate, precious metals,
or in alternative investments funds (AIFs) such
as private equity fund or hedge funds.
As Sovereign Wealth Fund and Abu Dhabi
Investment Authority can invest in a company
or enterprise either directly or indirectly through
AIFs, the Finance Act, 2020 has expended the
scope of section 10(23FE) whereby exemption
shall be available even if investment in
infrastructure companies is made through
AIFs. In this respect, it has been provided that
specified persons shall be exempt from paying
tax on any income arising from investment in
Category-I or Category-II AIFs provided AIFs
invest 100% of the amount in one or more
specified company or entity, i.e., company
or enterprise carrying on the business of
developing, operating or maintaining any
infrastructure facility as defined in Explanation
to clause (i) of section 80-IA(4) of the Act or such
other business as may be notified by the Central
Government in this behalf. Exemption shall be
available even if specified persons invests in
preference share capital of the company.
Further, as section 10(23FE) is introduced
for investment in infrastructure activities,
exemption shall be available even in respect
of income arising from investment in
Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InVITs).
Furthermore, in addition to Sovereign Wealth
Fund and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, a
pension fund created or established under the
law of a foreign country is included in the list
of specified persons and shall also be eligible
for exemption under section 10(23FE) provided
it is not liable to tax in such foreign country
and satisfy such other conditions as may be
specified in this behalf.
The amended provision also provides that
investment should be made during the
period between 01-04-2020 to 31-03-2024.
This amendment is made to clarify that no
exemption shall be available in respect of
income arising from investment made before
01-04-2020.
Particulars Before After
Amendment Amendment
(Rs.) (Rs.)
Income 5,00,000 5,00,000
Less: Application 3,75,000 3,75,000
of Income
Less: Corpus donation 50,000 -
Less: 15% Exemption 75,000 75,000
Taxable income Nil 50,000
15. SCOPE OF EXEMPTION UNDER
10(23FE) EXPANDED
The Finance Bill, 2020 proposed to introduce
a new section 10(23FE) under the Income-
tax Act to attract investment and promote
infrastructure facilities in India. It provides
exemption to income of Sovereign Wealth
Fund or wholly owned subsidiary of Abu
Dhabi Investment Authority, in the nature of
dividend, interest or long-term capital gains
arising from an investment made by it in India,
whether in the form of debt or equity, in a
company or enterprise carrying on the business
of developing, operating or maintaining any
infrastructure facility as defined in Explanation
to clause (i) of section 80-IA(4) of the Act or
such other business as may be notified by the
Central Government in this behalf. However,
the investment is required to be made on or
before 31-03-2024 and held for at least 3 years.

A proviso has been inserted to withdraw the
exemption if specified persons subsequently
fails to satisfy the conditions on basis of which
exemption was claimed in earlier years. It is
provided that the amount of exemption claimed
in earlier years shall be deemed to be the
income of the assessee of the year in which it
fails to comply with the conditions.
Section 10(23FE) after the amendment made
in Finance Act, 2020 can be explained with the
help of following questionnaire:
15.1. Who shall be eligible to claim
exemption under section 10(23FE)?
Exemption under section 10(23FE) shall be
available to following persons:
a) Sovereign Wealth Fund, i.e., Investment
funds owned and controlled by the
Government of a foreign country.
b) Wholly owned subsidiary of Abu Dhabi
Investment Authority.
c) Pension fund created or established under
the law of a foreign country.
15.2. When exemption under section
10(23FE) shall be available to eligible
persons?
available when eligible persons (as referred
above) make investment in following:
a) Debt or share capital (equity as well
as preference) of a company or
enterprise carrying on the business of
developing, operating or maintaining
any infrastructure facility as defined in
Explanation to clause (i) of section 80-IA(4).
b) Units of Category-I or Category-II AIFs
who made 100% investment in above
companies or entity.
c) Units of Infrastructure Investment Trusts
(InVITs).
Further, the investment should be made
between 01-04-2020 to 31-03-2024 and held for
at least 3 years.
15.3. Which type of income shall be eligible
for exemption under section 10(23FE)?
available in respect of income arising in the
nature of dividend, interest and long-term
capital gain from investment as specified above.
16. DIVIDEND RECEIVED ON OR AFTER
01-04-2020 SHALL NOT BE TAXABLE IF
DDT IS ALREADY PAID BY THE COMPANY
pay DDT on dividend and, the shareholders
are liable to pay tax on such income at the
applicable tax rate. Consequent amendments
have also been proposed to Section 10(34) and
Section 115-O. The dividend received on or after
01-04-2020 will not be exempt in the hands of
the shareholder and the company will not be
liable to pay DDT on any amount of dividend
declared, distributed or paid by the company on
or after 01-04-2020. Section 115BBDA was also
proposed to be amended that shareholders
receiving dividend in excess of Rs. 10 lakhs shall
not be taxed if the same is declared, distributed
or paid on or after 01-04-2020.
As per Section 115-O, DDT is required to be
deposited by the company on the amount of
dividend within 14 days of the earliest of the
following dates:
1. Declaration of dividend;
2. Distribution of dividend; or
3. Payment of dividend.
Similarly, tax under Section 115BBDA is
required to be paid by the shareholders if
the aggregate amount of dividend assessed
in his income exceeds Rs. 10 lakhs during
the previous year. Section 8 read with ICDS-
IV provides that irrespective of the method
of accounting followed by the assessee, any
dividend (including deemed dividend) declared,
distributed or paid by a company is chargeable
to tax as income of the previous year in which
it is so declared, distributed or paid. However,
interim dividend is chargeable to tax as the
income of the previous year in which it is paid.

Companies and shareholders are required to
pay tax on dividend (except in case of interim
dividend) on due or receipt basis, whichever
is earlier. The amendment to section 10(34)
provides that no exemption shall be available
in respect of dividend received on or after 01-
04-2020. Thus, exemption could be denied in
respect of that dividend received on or after 01-
04-2020 but declared on or before 31-03-2020.
To remove this ambiguity, the Finance Act, 2020
has made changes to section 10(34) to provide
that dividend received by assessee on or after
01-04-2020 shall not be included in his income
if tax has already been paid on such dividend
under section 115-O or section 115BBDA, as the
case may be.
17. MEANING OF ‘SAFE HARBOUR’ FOR
DETERMINATION OF ALP EXPANDED
The Finance Bill, 2020 proposed substitution
of Section 92CB(1) with effect from the
Assessment Year 2020-21 to provide that apart
from the determination of Arm’s Length Price,
the determination of the income referred to
in section 9(1)(i) shall also be subject to Safe
Harbour Rules.
Section 9(1)(i) covers various types of income,
i.e., income through or from any business
connection in India, any property in India etc.
Further, it has various Explanations including:
a) Explanation 2 (‘agency business
connection’)
b) Explanation 2A (‘Significant Economic
Presence’)
c) Explanation 3A (income from
advertisement etc.)
The existing Section 92CB of the Act provides
that the determination of Arm’s Length Price
under Section 92C or Section 92CA shall be
subject to Safe Harbour Rules as prescribed
by the Board. For this purpose ‘safe harbour’
means circumstances in which the Income-
tax authorities shall accept the transfer price
declared by the assessee. The Explanation to
Section 92CB defining safe harbour was not
amended by the Finance Bill, 2020 to provide
that safe harbour would now also include
circumstances in which income tax authorities
shall accept the income under section 9(1)(i)
declared by the assessee. Thus, the Finance Act,
2020 has made the consequential amendments
to section 92CB to expand the meaning of safe
harbour. ‘Safe harbour’ for section 92CB shall
now cover the transfer price or income, deemed
to accrue or arise under section 9(1)(i), as the
case may be, declared by the assessee.
18. TAX ON SPECIFIED INCOMES OF
NON-RESIDENTS
Section 115A of the Income-tax Act specifies
the tax rates for specified incomes in the hands
of a non-resident assessee, inter-alia, dividend
income, interest income, capital gains, royalty
and fee for technical services. Clause (BA)
of Section 115A provides that the following
incomes received by a non-resident person
shall be taxable at the rate of 5%:
a) Interest received from an infrastructure
debt fund as referred to in section 10(47);
b) Interest of the nature and extent as
referred to in section 194LC or section
194LD;
c) Interest paid by a business trust under
section 194LBA(2).
The Finance Act, 2020 excludes the income
mentioned in point (b) and (c) above from the
purview of 5% taxation. Interest income as
referred to in section 194LC, Section 194LD
and 194LBA(2) shall now be taxable at the rate
provided in the respective sections.
The rates prescribed under sections 194LC
and 194LD for deduction of tax at source
is also 5% but that rate is applicable on the
interest payable on the money borrowed or
investment made before 01-07-2020. For new
borrowings and investments which are made
after this sunset date, the tax may be deducted
at the higher rate under the said sections.
To avoid any conflict, Section 115A restrains
from giving references to the absolute rate for
taxability, rather it shifts reference to the parent
provisions only.

19. TAXPAYER EARNING PROFESSIONAL
INCOME WILL HAVE NO OPPORTUNITY
TO OPT OUT OF CONCESSIONAL TAX
REGIME OF SECTION 115BAC
The Finance Bill, 2020 has proposed
concessional tax regime for individual and HUF
by inserting Section 115BAC to the Income-tax
Act, 1961. This provision provides an option
for payment of taxes at the reduced rates.
However, the benefit of reduced tax rates is
available only after forgoing certain deductions
and exemptions.
To get this concessional tax regime, an
Individual and HUF is required to exercise the
option on or before the due date of furnishing
the return of income. Once the option is
exercised, it will be applicable to forthcoming
years as well if assessee is earning the business
income. If the taxpayer does not have any
business income, the assessee shall have a
choice to decide every year if he wants to opt
for concessional tax regime. The proposed
Section 115BAC did not give any reference to
the taxpayers earning professional income and
it was believed that this class was intentionally
left out, which brings them at par with those
taxpayers who are not earning business
income.
The Finance Act, 2020 makes the necessary
amendments to section 115BAC to provide
that taxpayers having income from profession
shall also get only one time option to opt for
concessional tax regime. The taxpayers earning
business income or professional income are
now at par as far as this provision is concerned.
20. SECTION 80M DEDUCTION TO BE
AVAILABLE FROM AY 2021-22 TO THE
COMPANIES OPTING FOR NEW TAX
REGIME
The Taxation Law (Amendment) Act, 2019 has
inserted two new sections (section 115BAA and
section 115BAB) to provide domestic companies
with an option to be taxed at concessional tax
rates with effect from April 1, 2020. Various
conditions are provided in the new sections
to opt for the new tax regimes including non-
availability of deductions under Chapter-VIA
except deductions under Section 80JJAA or
Section 80LA.
The Finance Bill, 2020 has proposed to allow
the deduction, to the domestic companies
opting for the concessional rates, under section
80M as well. Section 80M is a newly proposed
section which provides deduction in case of
inter-corporate dividends with effect from
01-04-2021.
Section 80M has been introduced by the
Finance Bill, 2020 but it does not provide
any clarity on the date of applicability of the
provision. The Finance Act, 2020 has clarified
that deduction under section 80M shall be
available to the companies opting for new tax
regime with effect from Assessment
Year 2021-22.
21. AMENDMENT IN THE DEFINITION OF
‘CHIEF COMMISSIONER’
As per Section 2(15A) of the Income-tax
Act, ‘Chief Commissioner’ means a person
appointed to be a Chief Commissioner of
Income-tax or a Principal Chief Commissioner
of Income-tax.
The Finance Act, 2020 makes an amendment to
this provision to include the Director General
and Principal Director General of Income-tax
within the meaning of ‘Chief Commissioner’.
Now, the Principal Director General of Income-
Tax shall be treated as an authority at par with
Director General of Income-tax. Hence, for all
such purposes under the income tax act, the
Principal Director General of Income-Tax shall
have all the powers which have been conferred
upon Director General of Income-tax.

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The Must-Read Analysis of Finance Act 2020, Straight from the Taxmann's Editorial Team.

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The Must-Read Analysis of Finance Act 2020, Straight from the Taxmann's Editorial Team.