Case Law Details
Waiver of Loan Granted To Meet Cost of Assets Results in Reduction of Cost of Asset for Depreciation
After the introduction of Explanation 10, it is no longer possible to contend that the subsidy given by the government, by whatever name called, cannot be reduced from the actual cost of the assets in terms of Section 43(1) of the Act for the purpose of allowing depreciation. But Explanation 10 does not cover the case of waiver of the loan. It covers only the grant of a subsidy or re-i mbursement by whatever name called. The case of the assessee may not, therefore, fall under Explanation 10, but having regard to the facts as found which we have alluded to earlier,
the waiver of the loan amounted to the meeting of a portion of the cost of the assets under the main provisions of Section 43(1) of the Act. The waiver of the loan is not a mere quantification of a subsidy granted generally for industrial growth. It was granted specifically to the assessee and the assessee in its books of accounts reduced the cost of the assets by the amount waived. This reflected a contemporaneous understanding of the purpose of the grant of the loan on the part of the assessee. As already mentioned earlier, the assessee is a public sector undertaking and the loan and the later waiver were from the Government of India. The loans under the SDF were specifically for meeting the capital cost of the assets, on which depreciation was being claimed.
HIGH COURT OF DELHI
Date of Decision : 30th March, 2012.
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