September 2010
Income-tax Act, 1961 — S. 10A — Free trade zone — An assessee need not set off unabsorbed depreciation and brought forward losses of non-STPI unit against profit of STPI unit as there is no deduction u/s.10A for non-STPI unit.
By C. N. Vaze
Shailesh Kamdar
Jagdish T. Punjabi
Bhadresh Doshi
Chartered Accountants
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New Page 1
55 (2010) 125 ITD 101 (Bangalore)
Rely Software (P.) Ltd. v. ITO (Bangalore)
A.Y. : 2004-05. Dated : 16-5-2008
Income-tax Act, 1961 — S. 10A — Free trade zone — An assessee
need not set off unabsorbed depreciation and brought forward losses of non-STPI
unit against profit of STPI unit as there is no deduction u/s.10A for non-STPI
unit.
Facts I :
In A.Y. 2004-05, the Assessing Officer on scrutiny of the
assessee’s case was of the view that unabsorbed depreciation and brought forward
losses of non-STPI unit should be adjusted against the profits of STPI unit
before claiming deduction u/s.10A. The aggrieved assessee appealed to the CIT(A),
who upheld the order of the Assessing Officer.
Facts II :
The AO obtained the details of export of incurred in foreign
exchange. The details as given by the assessee included an item ‘allowance paid
to engineers on overseas contract’. The Assessing Officer held that the said
expenditure is for technical services and accordingly excluded the same from
export turnover.
Held I :
The Tribunal relied on the decisions of ACIT v. Yokogawa
India Ltd., (2007) (13 SOT 470) (Bang.) and Huawei Technologies (Ind.) P. Ltd. [ITA
No. 9(B) of 2007, Order dated 8-11-2007] and held that the business loss or
unabsorbed depreciation of non-STPI should not be set off with the STPI unit.
The following observations were also made :
1. The words total income used in S. 10A means total
income as computed under the provisions of the Act. The substituted S. 10A
does not mean that profits as mentioned u/s.10A should not be included in
the total income.
2. The Legislature has used the words ‘profits and gains
as derived by an undertaking’. The assessee may have more than one
undertaking and in that case one has to consider the profits and gains of
that undertaking which qualifies for deduction u/s.10A.
3. S. 10A nowhere mentions that the deduction has to be
restricted to the total income of the assessee as computed as per the
provisions of the Act. The only interpretation which is possible in respect
of S. 10A is that deduction of the unit qualifying for exemption is to be
given to the extent of income computed in respect of that unit as per the
provisions of the Act.
Held II :
1. Payments made to the engineers employed on site are
for the development of software. By such development, the assesse has not
rendered any technical services.
2. The CBDT Circular No. 694, dated 23-11-1994, stated
that computer programs are not physical goods, but are developed as a result
of intellectual analysis of the system. It is often prepared on site with
the software personnel going to the client’s premises.
Hence the expenditure incurred for payments on site
development cannot be excluded from the export turnover by holding it as
technical services.
