Interest Income
of a Non-Resident Investor will now be taxed at the reduced rate of 5 per
cent instead of the existing rate of 20 per cent and withhold Tax on
such Income has also been reduced to 5 per cent
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Section 194LC of the Income-tax Act, 1961 – Income by way of Interest from Indian Company – Approval of loan agreements/long term infrastructure bonds and rate of interest for the purpose of Section 194LC
CIRCULAR NO. 7/2012 [F.No. 142/17/2012-SO(TPL)], dated 21-9-2012
The Finance Act, 2012 has introduced section 194LC in the Income Tax Act. This section provides for lower withholding tax at the rate of 5% on interest payments by Indian companies
on borrowings made in foreign currency by such companies from a source
outside India. There are principally two modes of borrowing (referred to
as “monies borrowed” in the said section) which are covered, subject to
approval of the Central Government:
a. Monies borrowed under a loan agreement
b. Long term Infrastructure Bonds
2. It is further
provided that the rate of interest on such borrowings, for the purpose
of eligibility under the section 194LC, shall be as approved by the Central Government.
3. The lower rate of withholding tax is for monies borrowed or bonds issued during the period from 1-7-2012 to 30-6-2015.
4. Therefore, the approval of the Central Government is required in respect of both the loan agreement or bond issue and the rate of interest to be paid on such borrowings.
5. Considering the fact that there would be a large number of cases of overseas borrowings or bond issues to be undertaken by Indian companies,
providing a mechanism involving approval in each and every specific
case would entail avoidable compliance burden on the borrower/issuer of
bond. In order to mitigate the compliance burden and hardship, the Central Board of Direct Taxes [with the approval of Central Government] hereby conveys the approval of Central Government for the purposes of section 194LC in respect of the loan agreements and issue of long term infrastructure term bond by Indian companies which satisfy the conditions mentioned in paras A, B and C below: -
A. In respect of agreements for loan
a. The borrowing of money should be under a loan agreement.
b. The monies borrowed under the loan agreement by the Indian company should comply with clause (d) of sub-section (3) of section 6 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 read with Notification No. FEMA3/2000-RB viz. Foreign Exchange Management (Borrowing or Lending in Foreign exchange)
Regulations 2000, dated May 3, 2000, as amended from time to time,
(hereafter referred to as “ECB regulations”), either under the automatic
route or under the approval route.
c. The borrowing company should have obtained a Loan Registration Number (LRN) issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in respect of the Agreement.
d. No part of the borrowing has taken place under the said agreement before 1st July, 2012.
e. The agreement should not
be restructuring of an existing agreement for borrowing in foreign
currency solely for taking benefit of reduced withholding tax rates.
f. The end use of the funds
and other conditions as laid out by the RBI under ECB regulations should
be followed during the entire term of the loan agreement under which the borrowing has been made.
B. In respect of issue of Bonds
a. The bond issue by the
Indian company should be authorized under ECB regulations either under
the automatic route or under the approval route.
b. The bond issue should have a loan Registration Number issued by the RBI.
c. The term “long term” means that the bond to be issued should have original maturity term of three years or more.
d. The bond issue proceeds should be utilized in the “infrastructure sector” only.
e. The term “infrastructure sector” shall have same meaning as is assigned to it by RBI under the ECB regulations.
C. Rate of interest
Further, the Central Government has also approved the interest rate
for the purpose of section 194LC as any rate of interest which is
within the All-in-cost ceilings specified by the RBI under ECB
regulations as is applicable to the borrowing by loan agreement or through a bond issue, as the case may be, having regard to the tenure thereof.
6. In view of the above, any loan agreement or bond issue, which satisfies the above conditions, would be treated as approved by the Central Government for the purposes of section 194LC.
7. In the case of other
long-term Infrastructure Bonds where the Indian company receives
subscription of such Bonds in foreign currency and such bond issue is
not covered under ECB regulations, the approval, for purpose of section
194LC shall be on case to case basis.
8. The Indian company,
for the purpose of obtaining the necessary approval u/s 194LC in respect
of such long-term bond issue, may, therefore, apply in writing to Member (IT), Central Board of Direct Taxes with the relevant details of the purpose, period and rate of interest.
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