


as Passed by the Lok Sabha
Key
as Passed by the Lok Sabha
6.
10. Removal of the Word ‘Intermediary’ from the ‘International Financial Services Centre
Office’ in
The Lok Sabha passed the Finance Bill 2025 [hereinafter called ‘Finance Bill (Lok Sabha)’] on 25th March 2025. While the Finance Bill, as passed by the Lok Sabha, largely retains the proposals made in the Finance Bill, certain noteworthy modifications have been made to the provisions relating to the block assessment, omission of equalisation levy and giving overriding powers to Section 44BBD over Section 115A and Section 44DA.
This article comprehensively analyses the changes made to the Finance Bill 2025 as passed by the Lok Sabha, highlighting their implications and the rationale behind these revisions.
Chapter VIII of the Finance Act 2016 introduced the Equalisation Levy with respect to online advertisement services rendered to a specified person by a non-resident. The Finance Act 2020 expanded the scope of equalisation levy to the e-commerce supply of goods or services to a specified person by an e-commerce operator. However, the Finance (No. 2) Act 2024 removed the equalisation levy on e-commerce supplies of goods or services with effect from 01-08-2024.
The Finance Bill (Lok Sabha) amended Chapter-VIII of the Finance Act 2016 and the Income-tax Act (‘ITA’) to withdraw the equalisation levy from 01-04-2025 entirely. The following amendments have been made:
(a) Amendments have been made to Sections 163 and 165 of the Finance Act 2016 to provide that the no equalisation levy shall apply to any consideration in respect of online advertisement services received or receivable by a nonresident on or after 01-04-2025.
(b) A sunset date has been inserted in Section 10(50) of ITA to provide that this provision shall not apply from the assessment year 2026-27.
The Finance Bill 2025 proposed the insertion of Section 44BBD, which provides for the computation of income on a presumptive basis for non-residents engaged in the business of providing services or technology for setting up electronics manufacturing facilities in India. Section 44BBD(2) provides that a sum equal to 25% of the aggregate of the specified amounts shall be deemed to be the profits and gains of such business of the non-resident assessee.
The Finance Bill (Lok Sabha) inserted a proviso to Section 44BBD(2), which provides that the provisions of Section 44DA or Section 115A shall not apply in respect of the amounts referred to in this subsection. This Proviso will primarily impact the taxability of royalty and fees for technical services (FTS) earned by a non-resident.
The taxability of royalty and FTS depends upon the existence of the permanent establishment (PE) of a non-resident in India. If the PE exists in India and the royalty or FTS is connected to it, the income shall be taxable under the head “Business or Profession” as per Section 44DA. If the PE does not exist, the income shall be taxable under the head of other sources at the rate specified under Section 115A, subject to provisions of DTAA.
The impact of the Proviso to Section 44BBD(2) is explained below.
Section 44DA deals with the taxability of royalties and FTS connected to the PE in India. The first Proviso to Section 44DA disallows the deduction in respect of the following:
(a) Any expenditure or allowance that is not wholly or exclusively incurred for the business of such PE or fixed place of profession in India; or
(b) The amount paid by the PE goes to its head office or to any of its other offices.
As the Proviso to Section 44BBD(2) excludes the applicability of Section 44DA, the above expenditure should not be disallowed if the royalty and FTS connected to the PE in India are taxable on a presumptive basis under Section 44BBD.
115A
The Proviso to Section 44BBD(2) excludes the applicability of Section 115A when the income is computed under Section 44BBD. Where the income is not computed under Section 44BBD, the tax rate under Section 115A will apply if the income is royalty or FTS. Therefore, the applicable tax rate for a non-resident providing services or technology in India shall be as follows:
(a) Where the nature is business income, and the non-resident has a PE in India, the income computed as per Section 44BBD shall be taxable at the applicable rate.
(b) Where the nature is business income but the non-resident does not have a PE in India, the income shall not be taxable in India in view of Article 7 (Business Profits) of the relevant DTAA.
(c) Where the nature of income is royalty or FTS, and the non-resident has a PE in India, the income computed as per Section 44BBD shall be taxable at the applicable rate.
(d) Where the nature of the income is royalty or FTS, and the non-resident does not have a PE in India, the income computed as per Section 44BBD shall be taxable at the applicable rate.
(e) Where the nature of the income is royalty or FTS, and the non-resident does not carry a business, the presumptive tax scheme of Section 44BBD may not apply. In that situation, the tax shall be computed as per Section 115A, read with the DTAA.
Chapter XIV-B (Sections 158B to 158BI) provides the special procedure for assessment in search cases. Where a search or a requisition has been made on or after 01-09-2024, the Assessing Officer assesses the total undisclosed income of the concerned person for the block period in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter. The existing provisions of this Chapter had various gaps that were proposed to be filled by the Finance Bill 2025. However, the following gaps still remained:
(a) Though the objective of this Chapter is to assess the undisclosed income, the extant provision uses the term “total income” instead of “total undisclosed income”.
(b) Section 158BB provides a circuitous approach to computing the total income and undisclosed income of the block period. It deduces undisclosed income by excluding disclosed income from total income. Undisclosed income is taxed under Section 113, while disclosed income is assessed separately under other provisions of the Act.
With retrospective effect from 01-09-2024, the Finance Bill (Lok Sabha) makes the curative amendments in the following provisions to substitute the term “total income” with “total undisclosed income”:
(a) In the marginal heading of Section 158BA, which now reads “Assessment of total undisclosed income as a result of search.”
(b) In the marginal heading of Section 158BB, which now reads “Computation of total undisclosed income of block period.”
(c) In sub-sections (1) and (7) of Section 158BA.
(d) In sub-sections (1), (3), and (5) of Section 158BB, A new sub-section (1A) is also inserted to exclude certain income from total undisclosed income. Previously, such exclusion was made under Section 158BB(5).
(e) In sub-section (1) of Section 158BC.
(f) In sub-section (1) of Section 158BE.
(g) In sub-section (1) of Section 158BFA.
(h) Section 113.
The Finance Bill (Lok Sabha) provides a new methodology to compute the undisclosed income for the block assessment with retrospective effect from 01-09-2024 by inserting sub-section (1A), substituting sub-sections (1), (3) and (5), amending sub-section (2) and omitting sub-section (6). The new provision does not follow the circuitous method of
first computing the total income, including disclosed and undisclosed income, and then reducing the disclosed income from such total income. It provides a straightforward method to compute the undisclosed income, which shall be the aggregate of undisclosed income declared by the assessee and determined by the assessing officer. The new methodology for the computation of undisclosed income under Section 158BB has been discussed below.
Section 158BB contains the following provisions for the computation of total undisclosed income of the block period:
(a) Finance Bill (Lok Sabha) substituted the provisions of Section 158BB(1) to provide that the undisclosed income shall be the aggregate of undisclosed income declared by the assessee and determined by the assessing officer.
(b) A sub-section (1A) has been inserted to exclude the disclosed income while computing the total undisclosed income. This sub-section contains clauses (a) to (d) defining which income shall be considered as disclosed income and to be excluded while computing the undisclosed income for the purpose of this Chapter. Previously, such exclusion was made under Section 158BB(5).
(c) Section 158BB(2) provides that the undisclosed income falling within the block period shall be computed based on evidence found. Finance Bill (Lok Sabha) has made a consequential amendment to this provision due to the new method prescribed in sub-section (1) to compute undisclosed income.
(d) Section 158BB(3) provides that the evidence relating to international transactions or specified domestic transactions for the specified period shall be ignored when determining the total income. There is no change in this provision by the Finance Bill (Lok Sabha).
(e) Section 158BB(4) contains a special provision for determining the undisclosed income in the case of a partnership firm. It also provides that the provisions of Sections 68 to 69C and Section 92CA shall apply as relevant to the block period. There is no amendment to this provision by the Finance Bill 2025 or Finance Bill (Lok Sabha).
(f) Section 158BB(5) specifies that the undisclosed income computed after reducing the disclosed income from total income will be charged to the tax at the rate specified under Section 113. Finance Bill (Lok Sabha) has made a consequential amendment to this provision due to the new method prescribed in sub-section (1) to compute undisclosed income.
(g) Section 158BB(6) specifies that where the income declared as per Section 158BB(1) is a loss, it shall be ignored. The Finance Bill (Lok Sabha) has omitted this provision. This omission will not impact the prohibition against set-off of losses against the undisclosed income as provided in Section 158BB(7).
(h) Section 158BB(7) prohibits the set-off of carried forward losses and unabsorbed depreciation against the undisclosed income. There is no amendment to this provision by the Finance Bill 2025 or Finance Bill (Lok Sabha).
A new clause (d) has been introduced in Section 158BB(1A) [inserted by Finance Bill (Lok Sabha)] that the income of certain assesses shall be considered disclosed income where return filing for them is not mandatory and the tax is deducted from such income. The incomes that shall be considered disclosed income under this provision shall be as follows:
(a) Where the total income of a non-resident or a foreign company consists only of incomes specified under Section 115A (i.e., interest, dividend, royalty, FTS.)
(b) Where the total income of an NRI consists only of income derived from foreign exchange assets1 or long-term capital gain arising from the transfer of such assets and is taxable under the special regime provided in Chapter XIIA (Section 115C to 115-I).
(c) The total income of a resident senior citizen consists of the pension income and interest income received or receivable from any account maintained in the bank responsible for tax deduction under Section 194P.
Section 158BC(1)(a) provides that the Assessing Officer must issue a notice to the person searched or whose documents/assets are requisitioned requiring him to file a return declaring his undisclosed income for the block period. The notice requires him to furnish the return within the prescribed period but not exceeding 60 days. The return must be filed within the time prescribed by the AO, and no powers were previously given to him to extend the time.
With retrospective effect from 01-09-2024, the Finance Bill (Lok Sabha) inserts a fifth proviso to Section 158BC(1)(a) to enable the extension in the time allowed to file the return by a further period of 30 days if the following conditions are fulfilled:
(a) The due date for furnishing the return of the previous year immediately preceding the year of search or requisition has not expired before the date of initiation of the search or the date of requisition;
(b) The assessee is liable for audit under section 44AB for such previous year;
(c) The accounts (maintained in the normal course) of such previous year have not been audited on the date of issuance of such notice; and
(d) The assessee requests in writing for an extension of time for furnishing such a return so that he may get such accounts audited.
To give a corresponding extension in the limitation period to complete the block assessment, the Finance Bill (Lok Sabha) inserted a second proviso to Section 158BE(1) to provide that where such an extension of 30 days is given, the period of limitation shall be thirteen months from the end of the quarter in which the last authorisation for a search under or requisition is executed or made. A similar second proviso has been inserted into Section 158BE(3) to extend the limitation period for the completion of block assessment in the case of other person.
1 As defined in Section 115C
The Finance Bill (Lok Sabha) omitted Section 158BI with retrospective effect from 01-092024. Section 158BI provides that the provisions of Chapter XIV-B do not apply to searches initiated or requisitions made before 01-09-2024. It appears that this section has been omitted not to invalidate the proceedings undertaken under this Chapter up to 31st May 2003, as thereafter, the Finance Act 2003 discontinued the proceedings under this Chapter and introduced Sections 153A, 153B, and 153C, effective from 1st June 2003, to govern assessments in cases of search or requisition.
Section 143(1)(a) of the ITA deals with processing Income-tax returns (ITRs) filed under section 139 or in response to the notice issued under section 142(1). The department processes the ITRs to verify and fix arithmetical errors, apparent errors, tax calculations, and tax payments. At this stage, no income verification is undertaken, and ITRs are processed in accordance with the Centralised Processing of Returns Scheme, 2011.
The Finance Bill (Lok Sabha) inserted a new sub-clause (iia) into Section 143(1)(a) to allow an adjustment during the processing of ITR. The newly inserted sub-clause proposes as follows:
“(iia) any such inconsistency in the return, with respect to the information in the return of any preceding previous year, as may be prescribed;”
The adjustment under this sub-clause is triggered if any inconsistency is identified in the ITRs furnished by the assessee over a few years. It may arise due to a mismatch in income figures, deductions claimed, exemptions, capital gains, or disclosures under various schedules of the return. It may also include discrepancies or conflicts between reported data, such as differences in financial records or tax returns across different periods. The Board shall specify what constitutes an inconsistency for this sub-clause.
The term’ capital asset’ is defined in Section 2(14) of the ITA. It means:
(a) Property of any kind held by an assessee, whether or not connected with his business or profession;
(b) Any securities held by an FII invested in in accordance with the SEBI Regulations;
(c) Any ULIP to which exemption under Section 10(10D) does not apply on account of applicability of the fourth and fifth Proviso
The Finance Bill 2025 proposed an amendment to Section 2(14) to classify any ULIP to which exemption under Section 10(10D) does not apply and any security held by investment funds governed under Section 115UB and invested in accordance with SEBI regulations as a capital asset.
The Finance Bill (Lok Sabha) expanded this provision by incorporating a reference to the International Financial Services Centres Authority Act, 2019 (IFSCA Act). Thus, investments made under the regulations framed under either the SEBI Act or the IFSCA Act will now be recognised as capital assets.
Under Section 9A, an eligible investment fund managed by an eligible fund manager in India will not be considered to have a business connection in India or be deemed a resident of India solely due to the fund manager’s location. An eligible investment fund is defined under Section 9A(3) as a fund established, incorporated, or registered outside India that pools funds from members for investment and meets specific conditions. One such condition is that Indian residents’ participation or investment (directly or indirectly) must not exceed 5% of the fund’s corpus [Clause (c) of sub-section (3) of Section 9A].
The Finance Bill (Lok Sabha) has amended clause (c) to remove the words “or indirectly.” Consequently, only direct participation by Indian residents will be considered for the 5% threshold limit. Indirect participation, such as investments made by Indian residents through foreign funds, will not count toward the 5% threshold.
Section 10(4D) exempts certain income of a specified Fund. A ‘specified fund’ is defined under clause (c) of Explanation to Section 10(4D). The Finance (No. 2) Act 2024 expanded the definition of ‘specified fund’ to include funds granted certification as a retail scheme or an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), subject to conditions that such scheme or fund is regulated under the IFSC Authority (Fund Management) Regulations, 2022, made under the IFSC Authority Act, 2019 and satisfies such conditions, as may be prescribed.
The Finance Bill (Lok Sabha) has removed the requirement to satisfy the prescribed conditions. Instead, it provides that the retail scheme or ETF shall be required to fulfil the conditions prescribed for such schemes or funds under the IFSC (Fund Management) Regulations, 2022. Thus, no additional condition will be prescribed under the Incometax Act. However, it must be noted that these funds are included under sub-clause (i) of clause (c) of Explanation of Section 10(4D). Thus, this scheme or funds must in any way meet the other conditions as apply to funds covered under said sub-clause (i).
Section 10(4E) of the ITA provides an exemption to the following income accrued or arising to or received by a non-resident subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions:
(i) Income arising as a result of the transfer of non-deliverable forward contracts, offshore derivative instruments or over-the-counter derivatives; and
(ii) Income arising to a non-resident due to the distribution of income on offshore derivative instruments.
The Finance Bill (Lok Sabha) amends clause (ii) to extend the benefit of exemption to the distribution of income on ‘over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives’.
Section 10(10D) exempts any sum received under a life insurance policy. However, the exemption is not allowed in the following cases:
(a) Where an insurance policy is taken for the benefit of a dependent disabled person as defined under Section 80DD and such dependent person predeceases the assessee [Clause (a) of Section 10(10D)].
(b) Keyman Insurance Policy [Clause (b) of Section 10(10D)].
(c) Excess premium life insurance policies, including ULIPs, i.e., where the premium payable for any of the years during the term of the policy exceeds the specified2 percentage of the sum assured [Clauses (c) and (d) of Section 10(10D)]
(d) High premium unit-linked insurance policies (ULIPs), i.e., where the premium payable for any of the years during the policy term exceeds Rs. 2,50,000. This threshold applies to a single ULIP and, in aggregate, for multiple ULIPs [Fourth and Fifth Proviso to Section 10(10D)].
(e) High premium life insurance policies (other than ULIPs), i.e., where the premium payable for any of the years during the policy term exceeds Rs. 5,00,000. This threshold applies to a single policy and, in aggregate, for multiple policies. [Sixth and Seventh Proviso to Section 10(10D)].
2 The applicable percentages are (a) 20% of the sum assured for policies issued on or after 01-04-2003 but on or before 31-03-2012, (b) 10% of the sum assured for policies issued on or after 01-04-2012, and (c) 15% of the sum assured for policies issued on or after 01-04-2013 on the life of any person referred to in Section 80U (a person with a disability) or Section 80DDB (a person suffering from a specified disease or ailment).
It is important to note that any sum received under excess-premium or high-premium policies (including ULIPs) is exempt from tax if received upon the death of the insured person. This exception is provided under the first Proviso (applies to excess premium policies) and the eighth Proviso (applies to high-premium policies) to Section 10(10D).
The Finance Bill 2025 has proposed substituting eight Proviso to section 10(10D) to extend the benefit of exemption to sums received under a life insurance policy issued by the ‘International Financial Services Centre insurance intermediary office,’ including the sum allocated by bonus on such policy.
The Finance Bill (Lok Sabha) has removed the word ‘intermediary’ from the ‘International Financial Services Centre insurance intermediary office’.
the
To promote the relocation of foreign funds to IFSC, Section 47(viiac) and Section 47(viiad) were introduced in the ITA to make such relocation a tax-neutral transfer.
As per Section 47(viiac), any transfer due to the relocation of a capital asset by the original fund to the resultant fund shall not be considered a transfer for the purpose of capital gains. As per Section 47(viiad), the allotment of shares, units or interest of the resultant fund to the shareholders, unitholders or interest holder of the original fund as a result of this relocation shall not be treated as a transfer for the purpose of capital gains
For the above purpose, the terms’ original funds’, ‘relocation’ and ‘resultant fund’ have been defined under clauses (a), (b) and (c) of Explanation to Section 47(viiad), respectively.
The Finance Bill 2025 proposed substituting clause (c) of the Explanation to Section 47(viiad). As per the substituted clause (c), retail funds and ETFs, which are regulated under the IFSC (Fund Management) Regulations, 2022, are also classified as resultant funds under Section 47(viiad), ensuring that the relocation of foreign investment funds to such IFSC-based funds is treated as a tax-neutral transaction. Retail funds and ETFs must be specified funds as defined under clause (c) of the Explanation to clause (4D) of Section 10 and must fulfil the conditions as specified in the said clause (4D).
The Finance Bill (Lok Sabha) combines the retail schemes and ETFs category with Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs), creating a single, broader definition. Further, retail funds and ETFs no longer need to qualify as a “specified fund” under section 10(4D) or meet its specific conditions.
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