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Showing contexts for: Infrastructure Development in Kmc Constructions Ltd, Hyderabad vs Department Of Income Tax on 2 February, 2012Matching Fragments
12. The learned authorised representative of the assessee submitted that the main issue involved in the appeals before this Tribunal is allowability of deduction under section 80IA(4)(i) of the Act. This issue is common for all the assessment years under appeal. He dealt with the introduction and changes made by the legislature to Section 80IA(4) of the Act till date. The said section is meant for allowing deduction in respect of profits and gains from industrial undertakings or enterprises engaged in infrastructure development. The assessee claimed deduction as it is engaged in development of infrastructure and as it satisfied all the conditions mentioned therein. The provisions of Section 80IA(4)(i) as introduced by the by the Finance Act, 1999 and as amended from time to time are applicable to the assessee.
13. From a reading of the section, it is clear that the deduction is allowable to:
a) any company incorporated;
b) which entered into agreement with Government; or any government body; and undertakes development of infrastructure facility.
14. The purpose for which the said section was amended with effect from the assessment year 2000-01, can be traced to a M/s. KMC Constructions Ltd.
======================= brochure issued by the Government of India, Ministry of Roads, Transport and High Ways in August, 2001. He has taken support from the aforesaid brochure, a copy of which is filed which is kept on record. In the said brochure, the Government of India extracted some of the decisions taken by it to bring in the development of infrastructure facility in the country. He pointed out that the Government provided the benefits to the Indian entrepreneurs by providing contract packages to the private enterprises. While providing benefits, the government specifically specified certain grants only to BOT Schemes. For the other schemes all the other benefits are made available. The classification provided in the brochure clearly indicates that the schemes of packages are meant for all the enterprises whether engaged in the development of infrastructure or under BOT. Hence, it clearly indicates that the Government of India with a view to develop the infrastructure facility provided various incentives to the Indian concerns for development of such infrastructure facility. With a view to provide the exemptions to the entrepreneurs carrying on such activity, the legislature introduced the amendment to Section 80IA(4) in the Finance Bill 1999 to be effective for and from the assessment years 2000-01 and onwards to fulfil the objective of the Prime Minister. The provisions of Sec.80IA(4) are made applicable to "any enterprise carrying on the business of (i) developing, (ii) maintaining and operating or (iii) developing, maintaining and operating or development, maintenance and operating any infrastructure facility.........". Because of the amendment, the enterprises which are engaged in any of the three activities became eligible for deduction compared to the earlier provision, which was made applicable only to such enterprises engaged in all the three activities cumulatively. The provisions of sub section (4A) which were earlier applicable to the entrepreneurs engaged in developing, maintaining and operating was deleted with effect from 01-04-2000, but is incorporated in section 80IA(4) of the Act. It is clear that the enterprises which were developing, operating and maintaining and developing, operating and maintaining were M/s. KMC Constructions Ltd.
======================= any of these three activities would become eligible for deduction. Therefore, there is no ambiguity in the Income-Tax Act. We find that where an assessee incurs expenditure on its own for purchase of materials and towards labour charges and itself executes the development work i.e., carries out the civil construction work, it will be eligible for tax benefit under section 80 IA of the Act. In contrast to this, a assessee, who enters into a contract with another person including Government or an undertaking or enterprise referred to in Section 80 IA of the Act, for executing works contract, will not be eligible for the tax benefit under section 80 IA of the Act. We find that the word "owned" in sub-clause (a) of clause (1) of sub section (4) of Section 80IA of the Act refer to the enterprise. By reading of the section, it is clear that the enterprises carrying on development of infrastructure development should be owned by the company and not that the infrastructure facility should be owned by a company. The provisions are made applicable to the person to whom such enterprise belongs to is explained in sub-clause (a). Therefore, the word "ownership" is attributable only to the enterprise carrying on the business which would mean that only companies are eligible for deduction under section 80IA(4) and not any other person like individual, HUF, Firm etc.
======================= conditions. There cannot be any question of providing a condition for such an enterprise to start operating and maintaining the infrastructure facility on or after 01.04.1995. From the assessment year 2000-01, deduction is available if the assessee is carrying out the business of any one of the above mentioned three types of activities. When an assessee is only developing an infrastructure facility project and is not maintaining nor operating it, obviously such an assessee will be paid for the cost incurred by it; otherwise, how will the person, who develops the infrastructure facility project, realize its cost? If the infrastructure facility, just after its development, is transferred to the Government, naturally the cost would be paid by the Government. Therefore, merely because the transferee had paid for the development of infrastructure facility carried out by the assessee, it cannot be said that the assessee did not develop the infrastructure facility. If the interpretation done by the Assessing Officer is accepted, no enterprise carrying on the business of only developing he infrastructure facility would be entitled to deduction under section 80IA(4), which is not the intention of the law. An enterprise, who develop the infrastructure facility is not paid by the Government, the entire cost of development would be a loss in the hands of the developer as he is not operating the infrastructure facility. The legislature has provided that the income of the developer of the infrastructure project would be eligible for deduction, it presupposes that there can be income to developer i.e. to the person who is carrying on the activity of only development infrastructure facility. Ostensibly, a developer would have income only if he is paid for the development of infrastructure facility, for the simple reason that he is not having the right/authorization to operate the infrastructure facility and to collect toll there from, has no other source of recoupment of his cost of development. While filing the return, the assessee had made claim under section 80IA(4) of the Act.