India’s Lok Sabha on March 30 passed through a voice vote Finance Bill 2015, which contains the government’s tax proposals.
The bill was passed after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley offered several amendments, including one that provides that foreign firms will be exempt from minimum alternative tax (MAT) not only on capital gains arising on transactions in securities, but also on interest, royalties, and fees for technical services chargeable to tax at a rate lower than 18 per cent.
Another amendment adds an exemption from MAT for gains and losses arising from exchange of shares with the units of a real estate investment trust (REITs) and infrastructure investments trust (InvIT). The liability under MAT will arise on actual transfer of such units.
The bill was also modified to provide that a foreign company will be treated as a company resident in India for a previous year if its place of effective management is in India in that previous year. The phase “at any time” was dropped from that description to provide clarity.
Also, government funds, sovereign wealth funds, and pension funds are now permitted to qualify for a special new tax regime for off-shore funds without meeting conditions required of other funds.
See:
Related MNE Tax articles:
Be the first to comment