Five year tax holiday for hotels located in specified districts having a world Heritage Site U/s Section 80-ID of the Income Tax Act, 1961

21. Five year tax holiday for hotels located in specified districts having a world Heritage Site

21.1 Section 80-ID of the Income-tax Act provides for a five year tax holiday to new hotels of two, three and four star categories and convention centres. It is a requirement that such hotel must be constructed and has started or starts functioning at any time during the period beginning on the 1st day of April,2007 and ending on the 31st day of March, 2010. Further, such convention centre must be constructed at any time during the above specified period. The tax holiday is available to profits derived from the business of hotels or convention centres for five consecutive assessment years beginning from the initial assessment year. For availing the above benefit, the hotel or convention centre should be located in the specified area. The specified area has been defined as the National Capital Territory of Delhi and the districts of Faridabad, Gurgaon, Gautam Budh Nagar and Ghaziabad.

21.2 With a view to promoting tourism and to attract tourists to certain World Heritage Sites in India, the scope of tax benefits available in this section has been extended also to new two-star, three-star or four-star category hotels located in specified districts having a World Heritage Site. Such hotels are required to be constructed and start functioning at any time during the period beginning on the 1st day of April, 2008 and ending on the 31st day of March, 2013. Specified districts having a World Heritage Site are the districts of Agra, Jalgaon, Aurangabad, Kancheepuram, Puri, Bharatpur, Chhatarpur, Thanjavur, Bellary, South 24 Parganas (excluding areas falling within the Kolkata Urban Agglomeration on the basis of the 2001 census), Chamoli, Raisen, Gaya, Bhopal, Panchmahal, Kamrup, Goalpara, Nagaon, North Goa, South Goa, Darjeeling and Nilgiri. Other conditions, already specified in this section, shall also be applicable to the new hotels.

21.3 Applicability – This amendment has been made applicable with effect from 1st April, 2009 and will accordingly apply in relation to assessment year 2009-10 and subsequent assessment years.

Note:-
Extract from Explanatory Notes to The Provisions of the Finance Act, 2008 vide circular no. 1/ 2009, dated 27th Mar, 2009.