Section 139 — Deductions in respect of profits and gains by an undertaking or enterprise engaged in development of Special Economic Zone. Successor to s.80 of the 1961 Act.
The section preserves a deduction that originated under the repealed Act. For any tax year, where the gross total income of an assessee being a Developer includes profits and gains derived by an undertaking or an enterprise from any business of developing a Special Economic Zone notified on or after 1st April, 2005 under the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 and referred to in section 80-iab of the Income-tax Act, 1961, and where that assessee is eligible to claim a deduction from those profits for that tax year under section 80-iab as if the 1961 Act had not been repealed, a deduction from those profits and gains is to be allowed in computing his total income. Two conditions govern it: the amount of the deduction is calculated as per section 80-iab of the 1961 Act, and the deduction under this Act is allowed only for such tax years as would have been allowed under section 80-iab as if that Act had not been repealed.
Why it is there
The deduction for a Special Economic Zone Developer ran for a fixed run of years under the old Act, and repeal would have cut it off part way through for Developers who had committed on the strength of it. This section carries the unexpired part of that entitlement into the new Act by reference, without re-enacting the scheme, so that both the amount and the number of remaining years continue to be measured by the old section.
Who it applies to
An assessee being a Developer whose gross total income includes profits from the business of developing a Special Economic Zone notified on or after 1 April 2005
An undertaking or enterprise deriving those profits and gains
The Assessing Officer testing eligibility under section 80-iab of the 1961 Act and the years still available
The figures, and what each one turns on
Read the condition in the same row. A figure quoted without it is a wrong answer with a citation attached.
What
Figure
The condition on it
Where
Earliest notification date for the Zone
On or after the 1st April, 2005
The Special Economic Zone must have been notified on or after that date under the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005
Clause (a)
Amount of the deduction
Not stated in this section — as calculated under section 80-iab of the Income-tax Act, 1961
Condition (i); the section fixes no rate or percentage of its own
Clause (i)
Number of tax years for which it is allowed
Not stated in this section — only such tax years as would have been allowed under section 80-iab of the 1961 Act
Condition (ii), computed as if the 1961 Act had not been repealed
Clause (ii)
What this means in practice
Nothing about the size or the length of this deduction can be worked out from the section in front of you. Both conditions point outward to section 80-iab of the Income-tax Act, 1961: the amount is calculated under it, and the years are the years it would have allowed had it never been repealed. The consequence is that years already used up under the old Act are gone — this is the tail of an existing entitlement, not a fresh grant. Clause (b) adds a live eligibility test for the particular tax year, so a Developer who would have failed the old section's conditions in that year gets nothing here either.
An example
Illustrative only, and invented for this page. The figures are chosen to show the rule biting, not taken from any real matter.
A Developer of a Special Economic Zone notified in 2015 had been claiming the section 80-iab deduction and, when the 1961 Act was repealed, still had part of that run of years left. Section 139 lets it continue to claim, for those remaining years only, an amount computed exactly as section 80-iab would have computed it. A Developer whose section 80-iab years had already run out, or whose Zone was notified before 1 April 2005, gets no deduction under this section.
Where you meet this section
In the Chapter VIII deduction claimed in a Developer's return, and in an assessment where the Assessing Officer questions eligibility, the amount, or how many years of the old section 80-iab entitlement remain.
The words themselves
the amount of deduction is calculated as per the provisions of section 80-IAB of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961)
Section 139(i), Income-tax Act, 2025.
the deduction under this Act shall be allowed only for such tax years, as would have been allowed under section 80-IAB of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961), as if the said Act had not been repealed
Section 139(ii), Income-tax Act, 2025.
What people get wrong
Looking in this section for the rate of deduction. Clause (i) sends you to section 80-iab of the Income-tax Act, 1961 for the amount.
Treating it as starting a fresh period of deduction. Clause (ii) allows only such tax years as would have been allowed under section 80-iab as if the 1961 Act had not been repealed.
Claiming it for a Zone notified before 1 April 2005. Clause (a) requires notification on or after that date under the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005.
Claiming it as a unit or operator in a Zone. Clause (a) requires the assessee to be a Developer with profits derived from the business of developing the Zone.
Ignoring the year-by-year eligibility test. Clause (b) requires the assessee to be eligible to claim under section 80-iab for that tax year, as if the old Act were still in force.
What this replaced
The correspondence is the Income Tax Department’s own, from its comparison utility for the 1961 and 2025 Acts. A renumbering is the easy half; whether the words changed is the half that decides cases.
80-IAB - Deductions in respect of profits and gains by an undertaking or enterprise engaged in development of Special Economic Zone
Rules of the Income-tax Rules, 2026 that work section 139. Where the rule’s own heading names the section we say so; the rest are marked on reading the rule, which is our derivation and not the department’s. A rule that serves the section silently and that we have missed will not appear here.
Rule 66 — Furnishing of audit report for claiming deduction under section 46 or 138 or 139 or 140 or 141 or 142 or 143 or 144 — on reading the rule
A circular binds the department, not you and not a court. Every one below was written under the 1961 Act; it reaches this section because the department’s own concordance carries the provision it names to this one.
Circular No. 13/2023 — Condonation of delay under clause (b) of sub-section (2) of section 119 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 for returns of income claiming 2023-07-26
Circular 1/2015 — Explanatory notes to the provisions of the finance no.2 act 2014 2015-01-21
Circular No. 10/2014 [F.No.178/84/2012-ITA-I] — Section 80-IA, sub-clause (iii) of sub-section (4) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 - Deductions - Profits and gains from industrial un 2014-05-06
Circular No. 10/2005 — Definition of "Port" as Infrastructural Facility for the Purpose of Sections 10(23G) and 80-IA of the Income-tax Act, 1961 2005-12-16
Circular No. 7/2002 — Section 80-IA l Profits and Gains from Industrial Undertakings, ETC., Engaged in Infrastructure Development, ETC 2002-08-26
Circular No. 788 — Section 80-IB l Profits and Gains from Certain Industrial Undertakings Other Than Infrastructure Development Undertakings 2000-04-11
Circular No. 733 — 565-567. Whether Build-Own-Lease-Transfer (BOLT) Scheme of Indian Railways shall be eligible for benefit under section 80-IA, sinc 1996-01-03
Circular No. 731 — 604. Eligibility for deduction under section 80-O in case of receipt of brokerage by reinsurance agent, operating in India on beha 1995-12-20
Circular No. 705 — 613. Procedure regarding grant of approval under section 80 RRA 1995-06-20
Circular No. 700 — 603. Whether benefit of section 80-O would be available if technical and professional services, though rendered outside India, are 1995-03-23
Circular No. 683 — Section 80 l Loss - Submission of Return for 1994-06-08
Circular No. 575 — 545. Whether ‘convertible foreign exchange’ does not include remittances from Nepal and Bhutan 1990-08-31
Circular No. 533 — 602. Application for approval of agreement to be made in prescribed form and verified in prescribed manner 1989-03-27
Circular No. 246 — Section 8OU l Totally Blind or Physically Handicapped Persons 1978-09-20
Circular No. 187 — Section 80-O l RO Yalties, ETC., from Certain Foreign Enterprises 1975-12-23
Circular No. 57 — Section 80-I l Profits and Gains from Industries After Certain Date 1971-03-23
A notification is made under a power the Act gives and, within that power, is law. These too were made under the 1961 Act and are placed here by the department’s concordance.
Notification No. 01/2013 — Section 80-IA, Sub-clause (iii) of sub-section (4) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 - Deductions - In respect of profits and gains from 2013-01-08
Notification No. 48/2012 — Section 80-IA, Sub-clause (iii) of Sub-section (4) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 - Deductions - in Respect of Profits and Gains from 2012-11-06
Notification No. 47/2012 — Section 80-IA, Sub-clause (iii) of Sub-section (4) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 - Deductions - in Respect of Profits and Gains from 2012-11-06
Notification No. 17/2012 — Section 80-IA of the Income-tax Act, 1961 - Deductions - Profits and gains from industrial infrastructure undertakings, etc. - Not 2012-05-11
Notification No. 13/2012 — Section 80-IA of the Income-tax Act, 1961 - Deductions - Profits and Gains from Industrial Infrastructure Undertakings, ETC. - Not 2012-03-22
Notification No. 10/2012 — Section 80-IA of the Income-tax Act, 1961 - Deductions - Profits and gains from industrial infrastructure undertakings, etc. - Not 2012-02-21
Notification No. 11/2011 — Income-tax : Section 80-IA of the Income-tax Act, 1961 - Deductions - Profits and gains from industrial infrastructure undertaking 2011-02-24
Notification No. 47 — Section 80-IA of the Income-tax Act, 1961 - Deductions - Profits and gains from industrial infrastructure undertakings, etc. - Not 2010-07-09
Notification No. 80 — Section 80-IA of the Income-tax Act, 1961 – Deductions – Profits and gains from industrial undertakings, etc, - Notified undertaki 2009-10-27
Notification No. 106 — Industrial Park Scheme, 2008 - Amendments in Form Ips-1 2008-11-28
Notification No. 98 — Income-tax (Eighth Amendment) Rules, 2008 - Insertion of rule 18DDA and Form No. 10CCBD 2008-10-22
Notification No. 89 — Section 80-IC (2)(A) of the Income-tax Act 1961 – Deduction – Special Provision in Respect of Certain Undertakings or Enterprises 2008-08-27
Notification No. 76 — A notification under section 10A of the Income-tax Act, 1961 2008-07-02
Notification No. 66 — Following undertakings notified under section 80 2008-05-30
Notification No. 03 — A notification under section 80 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 2008-01-08
Notification No. 02 — Amendment of the Income-tax Rules under section 80 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 2008-01-08
Notification No. 281 — Amendment of the Income-tax Rules under section 80 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 2007-11-27
Notification No. 211 — Section 80-IA(4)(iii) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 - Deductions - In respect of profits and gains from industrial undertakings, etc 2007-07-31
Notification No. 67 — Amendment of the Income-tax Rules under section 32 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 2005-02-28
Notification No. 58 — Amendment of the Income-tax Rules under section 40A of the Income-tax Act, 1961 2005-02-17
Notification No. 43 — Amendment of the Income-tax Rules under section 80 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 2005-02-04
Notification No. 142 — Amendment of the Income-tax Rules under section 80 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 2004-04-19
Notification No. 49 — A notification under section 3 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 2004-02-13
Notification No. 41 — Industrial areas in the State of Sikkim in column (2) of the Schedule below notified under section 80 2004-02-06
Notification No. 292 — Amendment of the Income-tax Rules under section 23 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 2003-11-13
Notification No. 156 — Amendment of the Income-tax Rules under section 80 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 2003-06-18
Notification: 124 Date of Issue : 31/5/2002 — 4. The percentage of land to be earmarked for commercial use shall not be more than 10 per cent of the allocable area. 2002-05-31
Notification No. 85E- — A notification under section 80 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 2001-01-31
Notification No. 24- — A notification under section 80 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 2001-01-31
Notification No. 1692 — Multilevel Computerised Car Parking as infrastructure facility notified under section 10 2000-07-13
Notification No. 285(E) — An undertaking developed and being maintained and operated by Western India Kinfra Ltd notified under section 80 2000-03-28
Notification No. 11291 — An undertaking developed and being maintained and operated by M/s International Tech Park Limited notified under section 80 2000-03-28
Notification No. 11185 — An undertaking developed and being maintained and operated by the Wise Industrial Park Limited notified under section 80 1999-12-28
Notification No. 11174 — A notification under section 80 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 1999-12-20
Notification No. 11103 — A notification under section 80 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 1999-10-06
Notification No. 11102 — A notification under section 80 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 1999-10-06
Notification No. 11022 — Following industries in the North-Eastern Region to be the industries notified under section 80 1999-08-04
S.O. 627(E) — Following industries in the North-Eastern Region to be the industries notified under section 80 1999-08-04
Notification No. 10963 — A notification under section 80 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 1999-06-16
S.O. 447(E) — A notification under section 80 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 1999-06-16
Notification No. 10958 — A notification under section 80 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 1999-06-15
Notification No. 10957 — A notification under section 80 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 1999-06-15
S.O. 440(E) — A notification under section 80 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 1999-06-15
S.O. 439(E) — A notification under section 80 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 1999-06-15
Notification No. 10956 — A notification under section 80 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 1999-06-14
Notification No. 10955 — A notification under section 80 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 1999-06-14
S.O. 435(E) — A notification under section 80 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 1999-06-14
S.O. 434(E) — A notification under section 80 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 1999-06-14
S.O. 401(E) — A notification under section 80 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 1999-05-31
Notification No. 10942 — A notification under section 7 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 1999-05-28
S.O. 391(E) — A notification under section 80 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 1999-05-28
Read this before you rely on it. Every decision below was decided under the Income-tax Act, 1961. It appears here because it is tagged to a 1961 provision that the department’s own mapping carries to section 139. That is an inference we have drawn, not a holding on the new section: where the words changed in the move, the reasoning may not survive. Treat this as the place to start looking, not as authority on the 2025 Act.
Liberty India v CITSupreme CourtHelps departmenttagged s.80-IB Can I count depb credits and duty drawback in the profits for my 80-ib deduction?
PCIT v Wipro LtdSupreme CourtHelps departmenttagged s.80 A declaration was required by the due date and you filed it late. Is that fatal?
Balaji Landmarks LLP v CBDTHigh CourtHelps taxpayertagged s.80 I filed my loss return late on my ca's advice and lost the carry-forward. Will the delay be condoned?
Coromondel Cabeles (P) Ltd v ACITHigh CourtCuts both waystagged s.80-IB(10) I never claimed section 80-ib(10) in my return under section 139(1). Can the High Court still let me have the deduction in a section 260A appeal?
Gateway Terminals India v DCITHigh CourtHelps taxpayertagged s.80-IA Does interest on fixed deposits I was obliged to make for the eligible business, and interest on the refund of TDS my customers wrongly deducted…
Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd v CITHigh CourtHelps taxpayertagged s.80-I Same point, in Delhi: if the recorded grounds fail, can the officer still tax an unrelated item?
ACIT v Monarch Innovative TechnologiesITATHelps taxpayertagged s.80-IC My return went in by the due date but I claimed the deduction for the first time in a revised return. Does section 80AC block the claim?
What this page does not tell you. It does not reproduce the section. Everything above was written from the section’s own text as the Income Tax Department publishes it — the text is here, and nothing here is advice on your facts. Where a figure matters, read the sub-section it comes from.