Removal of the cascading effect of Dividend Distribution Tax (DDT)
Section 115-O of the Act provides for taxation of distributed profits of domestic company. It provides that any amount declared, distributed or paid by way of dividends, whether out of current or accumulated profits, shall be liable to be taxed at the rate of 15%. The tax is known as Dividend Distribution Tax (DDT). Such distributed dividend is exempt in the hands of recipients.
Section 115-O of the Act provides that dividend liable for DDT in case of a company is to be reduced by an amount of dividend received from its subsidiary after payment of DDT if the company is not a subsidiary of any other company. This removes the cascading effect of DDT only in a two-tier corporate structure.
With a view to remove the cascading effect of DDT in multi-tier corporate structure, it is proposed to amend Section 115-O of the Act to provide that in case any company receives, during the year, any dividend from any subsidiary and such subsidiary has paid DDT as payable on such dividend, then, dividend distributed by the holding company in the same year, to that extent, shall not be subject to Dividend Distribution Tax under section 115-O of the Act.This amendment will take effect from 1st July, 2012.
