Exemption of income of Foreign Company from sale of leftover stock of crude oil from strategic reserves at the expiry of agreement or arrangement
The existing provisions of clause (48A) of section 10 of the Act, provides that any income accruing or arising to a foreign company on account of storage of crude oil in a facility in India and sale of crude oil therefrom to any person resident in India shall be exempt, if the said storage and sale is pursuant to an agreement or an arrangement entered into by the Central Government; and having regard to the national interest, said foreign company and the said agreement or arrangement are notified by the Central Government in that behalf. The benefit of exemption presently is not available to sale out of the leftover stock of crude after the expiry of said agreement or the arrangement.
Given the strategic nature of the project benefitting India to augment its strategic petroleum reserves, it is proposed to insert a new clause (48B) in section 10 so as to provide that any income accruing or arising to a foreign company on account of sale of leftover stock of crude oil, if any, from a facility in India after the expiry of an agreement or an arrangement referred to in clause (48A) of section 10 of the Act shall also be exempt subject to such conditions as may be notified by the Central Government in this behalf.
This amendment will take effect from 1st April, 2018 and will, accordingly, apply in relation to assessment year 2018-19 and subsequent years.
[Clause 6]
Extract of relevant clause from Finance Bill, 2017
Amendment of section 10.
6. In section 10 of the Income-tax Act,—
(a) in clause (4), in sub-clause (ii), in the proviso, for the word, brackets and letter “clause (q)”, the word, brackets and letter “clause (w)” shall be substituted and shall be deemed to have been substituted with effect from the 1st day of April, 2013;
(b) after clause (12A) [as inserted by section 7 of the Finance Act, 2016], the following clause shall be inserted with effect from the 1st day of April, 2018, namely:—
“(12B) any payment from the National Pension System Trust to an employee under the pension scheme referred to in section 80CCD, on partial withdrawal made out of his account in accordance with the terms and conditions, specified under the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 2013 and the regulations made thereunder, to the extent it does not exceed twentyfive per cent. of the amount of contributions made by him;”;
(c) in clause (23C),—
(I) after sub-clause (iiiaaa), the following sub-clause shall be inserted and shall be deemed to have been inserted with effect from the 1st day of April, 1998, namely:—
“(iiiaaaa) the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund or the Lieutenant Governor’s Relief Fund in respect of any State or Union territory as referred to in sub-clause (iiihf) of clause (a) of sub-section (2) of section 80G; or”;
(II) after the eleventh proviso, the following proviso shall be inserted with effect from the 1st day of April, 2018, namely:—
“Provided also that any amount credited or paid out of income of 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), to any trust or institution registered under section 12AA, being voluntary contribution made with a specific direction that they shall form part of the corpus of the trust or institution, shall not be treated as application of income to the objects for which such fund or trust or institution or university or educational institution or hospital or other medical institution, as the case may be, is established:”;
(d) after clause (37), the following clause shall be inserted and shall be deemed to have been inserted with effect from the 1st day of April, 2015, namely:—
‘(37A) any income chargeable under the head “Capital gains” in respect of transfer of a specified capital asset arising to an assessee, being an individual or a Hindu undivided family, who was the owner of such specified capital asset as on the 2nd day of June, 2014 and transfers that specified capital asset under the Land Pooling Scheme (herein referred to as “the scheme”) covered under the Andhra Pradesh Capital City Land Pooling Scheme (Formulation and Implementation) Rules, 2015 made under the provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority Act, 2014 and the rules, regulations and Schemes made under the said Act.
Explanation.—For the purposes of this clause, “specified capital asset” means,—
(a) the land or building or both owned by the assessee as on the 2nd day of June, 2014 and which has been transferred under the scheme; or
(b) the land pooling ownership certificate issued under the scheme to the assessee in respect of land or building or both referred to in clause (a); or
(c) the reconstituted plot or land, as the case may be, received by the assessee in lieu of land or building or both referred to in clause (a) in accordance with the scheme, if such plot or land, as the case may be, so received is transferred within two years from the end of the financial year in which the possession of such plot or land was handed over to him;’;
(e) in clause (38), after the second proviso and before the Explanation [as inserted by section 7 of the Finance Act, 2016], the following proviso shall be inserted with effect from the 1st day of April, 2018, namely:—
“Provided also that nothing contained in this clause shall apply to any income arising from the transfer of a long-term capital asset, being an equity share in a company, if the transaction of acquisition, other than the acquisition notified by the Central Government in this behalf, of such equity share is entered into on or after the 1st day of October, 2004 and such transaction is not chargeable to securities transaction tax under Chapter VII of the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2004.”;
(f) after clause (48A), the following clause shall be inserted with effect from the 1st day of April, 2018, namely:—
“(48B) any income accruing or arising to a foreign company on account of sale of leftover stock of crude oil, if any, from the facility in India after the expiry of the agreement or the arrangement referred to in clause (48A) subject to such conditions as may be notified by the Central Government in this behalf;”.
