The Finance (No. 2) Act, 2009 provided for the taxation of LLPs in the Income-tax Act on the same lines as applicable to partnership firms. Section 56 and section 57 of the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008 allow conversion of a private company or an unlisted public company (hereafter referred as company) into an LLP. Under the existing provisions of Income-tax Act, conversion of a company into an LLP has definite tax implications. Transfer of assets on conversion attracts levy of capital gains tax. Similarly, carry forward of losses and of unabsorbed depreciation is not available to the successor LLP.
It is proposed that the transfer of assets on conversion of a company into an LLP in accordance with section 56 and section 57 of the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008 shall not be regarded as a transfer for the purposes of capital gains tax under section 45, subject to certain conditions. These conditions are as follows:
(i) the total sales, turnover or gross receipts in business of the company do not exceed sixty lakh rupees in any of the three preceding previous years;
(ii) the shareholders of the company become partners of the LLP in the same proportion as their shareholding in the company;
(iii) no consideration other than share in profit and capital contribution in the LLP arises to partners;
(iv) the erstwhile shareholders of the company continue to be entitled to receive at least 50 per cent of the profits of the LLP for a period of 5 years from the date of conversion;
(v) all assets and liabilities of the company become the assets and liabilities of the LLP; and
(vi) no amount is paid, either directly or indirectly, to any partner out of the accumulated profit of the company for a period of 3 years from the date of conversion.
It is also proposed to allow carry forward and set-off of business loss and unabsorbed depreciation to the successor LLP which fulfills the above mentioned conditions.
It is also proposed that if the conditions stipulated above are not complied with, the benefit availed by the company shall be deemed to be the profits and gains of the successor LLP chargeable to tax for the previous year in which the requirements are not complied with.
It is also proposed that the aggregate depreciation allowable to the predecessor company and successor LLP shall not exceed, in any previous year, the depreciation calculated at the prescribed rates as if the conversion had not taken place.
It is further proposed that the actual cost of the block of assets in the case of the successor LLP shall be the written down value of the block of assets as in the case of the predecessor company on the date of conversion.
It is also provided that the cost of acquisition of the capital asset for the successor LLP shall be deemed to be the cost for which the predecessor company acquired it.
Credit in respect of tax paid by a company under section 11 5JB is allowed only to such company under section 115JAA. It is proposed to clarify that the tax credit under section 115JAA shall not be allowed to the successor LLP.
These amendments are proposed to take effect from 1st April, 2011 and will, accordingly, apply in relation to the assessment year 2011-12 and subsequent years.
