Private equities, venture capital funds get tax breather for startups

 Private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) funds investing in startups have got a tax relief. Income from transfer of unlisted shares by them would now be treated as capital gains and not as business income even if there is transfer of control or a management change. A number of funds had received show cause notices from income-tax authorities on this issue, prompting a spate of representations from them as well as startups to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). The relief is available to Sebi-registered Alternate Investment Fund (AIF), both category I and II. The board has now sent out a letter to the field saying this change in control or management should not be applied in case of such investments as AIFs typically invest in unlisted shares of ventures, many of which are startups, making some form of `control and management of underlying business' necessary. This issue had its origin in the long-standing debate on treatment of transfer of shares as business income or capital gains. The CBDT had in February 2016 through a clarification settled the debate that income from transfer of listed shares and securities which are held for more than a year would be taxed under the head `Capital Gain' unless the taxpayer himself treats these as stock-in-trade and transfer thereof as its business income. For determining the tax-treatment of income from transfer of unlisted shares for which no formal market exists for trading, the CBDT said the income would be considered as `Capital Gain', irrespective of period of holding, but with some exceptions. These included a situation when genuineness of transactions in unlisted shares itself was in question, transfer of unlisted shares was related to an issue pertaining to lifting of corporate veil or the transfer of unlisted shares is made along with the control and management of under lying business. The board has now dropped this condition that impacted startup investments by VCs and PEs as their funding usually implies some form of management control. Tax experts say the CBDT clarification helps remove any uncertainty and risk that gains from sale of shares in such cases could be taxed as business income. “Taxing them as business income would have been a big blow since they invest for a longer duration and would have lost out on indexation benefit or full capital gains exemption (in cases of favourable treaty countries like Mauritius, Singapore, the Netherlands, etc.),” said Amit Maheswari, partner at Ashok Maheshwari & Associates LLP. “The clarification addresses the concern and ambiguity caused by the exception to the broad principle laid out by the earlier guidance issued by the government that income arising from transfer of unlisted shares should be considered as capital gains,” Vikas Vasal, national leader tax, Grant Thornton India LLP . Tax experts have now sought further certainty in the Budget. “It is common for AIFs to acquire management control of the investee companies... This is a very important clarification also considering that business income does not get pass through status. Investors in such AIFs can therefore get the benefit of lower tax rate on capital gains,” said Rajesh Gandhi, partner, Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP. “The Budget 2017 should in fact remove the differential tax treatment between capital gains and business income and simply give pass through status to all types of income of AIFs,” he said.

 (Economic Times)

Direct tax collections in Mumbai, Delhi in single digit

New Delhi alone has collected a total tax amounting to Rs 74,147 crore during the reporting period, from Rs 72,210 crore a year ago, registering growth of 2.7 per cent. Direct tax collections by both Mumbai and Delhi zones of the Income Tax department were in single digit until December 24, a department official said. It is inspite of the fact that the net revenue collections were in double digit during the period not only at the national level, but also at zonal level.

 The Mumbai zone, which is responsible for collection of more than one-third of total tax being collected from across the country, garnered revenue amounting to Rs 1.74 trillion during the reporting period from Rs 1.59 trillion a year ago, thus showing a growth of 9 per cent, an official told PTI here today. However, the growth was in double digit in all the other parts of the country during the period. Even small places like Pune and Thane have also shown a double-digit growth in direct tax collections during the period. The department collected Rs 5.54 trillion during the reported period from across the country from Rs 4.88 trillion a year ago, thus registering an average growth of 13.5 per cent. New Delhi alone has collected a total tax amounting to Rs 74,147 crore during the reporting period, from Rs 72,210 crore a year ago, registering growth of 2.7 per cent. Bengaluru zone witnessed a growth by 22 per cent by netting revenue amounting to Rs 62,418 crore from Rs 51,128 crore a year ago.

On a similar front, Chennai and Kolkata zones have also registered double digit growth in revenue collections during the reporting period. While net revenue collection at Rs 25,171 crore was up by 14.5 per cent from Kolkata zone from Rs 21,976 crore a year ago, Chennai zone’s revenue collection went up by 20 per cent at Rs 42,316 crore from Rs 35,254 crore a year ago. Smaller places like Thane and Pune have also fared well on the front. While Pune region registered a growth of 19 per cent at Rs 28,574 crore during the reporting period from Rs 23,973 crore a year ago, Thane region’s revenue collection at Rs 3,982 crore was also up by 27.5 per cent from Rs 3,123 crore a year ago.

 (Indian Express)