Landmark Cases on Presumptive and Book Profits (MAT)

No disallowance under section 14A can be made while computing book profits under section 115JB unless the expenditure is debited to the profit and loss account and satisfies clause (f) of Explanation 1 to section 115JB(2).

Disallowance computed under Section 14A, read with Rule 8D, cannot be added to book profits under Section 115JB for Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) purposes. Additionally, for Section 14A disallowance, only investments that yielded exempt income during the year are considered for calculating their average value.

For the purpose of computing book profits under Section 115J, arrears of depreciation, including those arising from assets working extra shifts, are a necessary charge on profits if debited to the profit and loss account and are allowable as such.

Tax liability for an item of income or expenditure is determined solely by the provisions of the Income-tax Act. Entries in an assessee's books of account are not conclusive and do not govern the taxability or deductibility of an item, as the legal rights and obligations under the Act prevail.

A provision for doubtful debts cannot be added back while computing book profits under Section 115JB of the Income-tax Act for Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) purposes.

Capital receipts, including interest subsidy received under schemes like TUF, are excluded when computing book profits under Section 115JB of the Income Tax Act. This principle also extends to the reduction of provisions written back from book profits for MAT purposes.

Disallowance under Section 14A for expenses relating to exempt income is required while computing book profit under Section 115JB. An Assessing Officer's order is erroneous for revision under Section 263 if the view taken was not plausible, legally unsustainable, and incorrect, requiring a recorded finding.

For computing book profits under Section 115JB, an Assessing Officer's power is limited to examining duly certified books and making adjustments only as per the Explanation. A provision for bad and doubtful debts, being a diminution in the value of an asset (receivable), does not constitute a 'provision for liability' under Clause (c) of the Explanation and therefore cannot be added back.

When tax is levied under Section 115JB on book profits, no penalty under Section 271(1)(c) for concealment or furnishing inaccurate particulars can be imposed based on additions or disallowances made in the regular computation of income. The regular computation is only for comparative purposes when the final tax liability is based on book profits.

Book profits, as determined from the financial statements prepared under the Companies Act, are generally immune from arbitrary alteration by tax authorities when computing minimum alternate tax (MAT) under Section 115JB, except for specific adjustments mandated by income-tax law.

Section 115JB is a self-contained code for computing book profit, which relies on audited financial statements subject to adjustments under Explanation 1. Restrictions on export profit deductions under Section 80HHC(1B) for normal tax computation do not automatically apply when computing book profits under Section 115JB.

For computing presumptive income under Section 44BB, gross receipts do not include service tax reimbursements received from a client (like ONGC) if such amounts are not payments for services or plant/machinery directly used in the prospecting, extraction, or production of mineral oils.

Service tax paid to the Government of India is not 'on account of' the provision of services for mineral oil exploration and production, and thus does not form part of the aggregate taxable amount under Section 44BB(2)(a) and (b).

For Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) under Section 115JB, the book profit must reflect the true working results of the company. Capital receipts that are not income cannot be included in book profit, and adjustments based on notes on accounts can be made to arrive at the real profit.

Wealth tax paid by an assessee cannot be added back to net profit for the purpose of computing book profit under section 115J or section 115JB, as wealth tax is not included in the definition of 'income-tax' under the Explanation to these sections.

The ITAT Special Bench in Rain Commodities Ltd. held that certain capital receipts, such as forfeited share warrants, if credited to the profit and loss account, are liable for book profits tax under Section 115JB (Minimum Alternate Tax).

When computing book profit under Section 115JA, amounts mentioned in the notes to accounts of financial statements must be considered, even if they are not directly debited to the profit and loss account.

Section 43B does not apply to electricity duty collected by an assessee under the Electricity Duty Act, as such amounts are not 'sums payable by the assessee by way of tax or duty'. The decision also clarifies the applicability and calculation of book profits under Section 115JB.

Disallowance under Section 14A cannot exceed the actual exempt income earned, and only investments that have yielded or are capable of yielding exempt income are considered for Rule 8D computation. The Assessing Officer must record objective satisfaction before rejecting the assessee's disallowance and applying Rule 8D, a principle also applicable to Section 115JB.

The assessment of profits for an insurance business is exclusively governed by the specific rules prescribed in the First Schedule to the Income Tax Act and Section 44, thereby precluding the Assessing Officer from applying general computation provisions, such as sections 28 to 43B, disallowances under Section 14A, or making adjustments outside these specific statutory rules.

Disallowance of expenditure incurred for earning exempt income under Section 14A read with Rule 8D must be added back to the book profit when computing Minimum Alternate Tax under Section 115JB. This addition is justified in terms of clause (f) to Explanation 1 of Section 115JB(2).

Section 14A, which disallows expenditure related to exempt income, applies exclusively to the computation of income under normal provisions of the Income-tax Act and is not applicable to the computation of book profit for Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) under Section 115JB.

Book profit for Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) under Section 115J/115JB is confined to business profit and does not include profit from the realization of assets, such as capital gains. Specifically, amounts exempted under sections like 54E or 54EC, being capital receipts, cannot be taxed under MAT.

Provision for bad and doubtful debts, if it amounts to an actual write-off by reducing the sundry debtors balance from the asset side of the Balance Sheet, cannot be added back when computing book profits under Section 115JB read with Explanation (i) of the Income Tax Act.

Disallowance under Section 14A read with Rule 8D cannot be made if no exempt income is earned in the relevant assessment year. Consequently, such disallowance should not be added back while computing book profits under Section 115JB.