Section 41(4A) — the law in short
What the courts have decided on section 41(4A), in one screen. Read this first; open an entry when you need the facts, the reasoning and the source.
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Statutory position — s.36(1)(viii): the special reserve, the twenty per cent limit, the twice-the-paid-up-capital ceiling, and the s.41(4A) charge when the reserve is drawn down
CBDT Circulars & InstructionsCuts both ways
My client is a housing finance company and has created a special reserve. How much is deductible under s.36(1)(viii), what caps it, and what happens if the reserve is later withdrawn?
Section 36(1)(viii) allows a "specified entity" a deduction for a special reserve created and maintained by it, of an amount not exceeding twenty per cent of the profits derived from an "eligible business" computed under the head "Profits and gains of business or profession" (before any deduction under this clause) and actually carried to that reserve account. A proviso caps the cumulative benefit: where the aggregate of the amounts carried to the reserve account from time to time exceeds twice the amount of the paid up share capital and of the general reserves of the specified entity, no allowance is made in respect of the excess. And section 41(4A) supplies the sting — where the deduction has been allowed, any amount subsequently withdrawn from the special reserve is deemed to be profits and gains of business or profession and is charged to tax in the year of withdrawal, and by the Explanation to that sub-section it is charged even if the business is no longer in existence.
Listed strongest first: Supreme Court, then High Court, then Tribunal, then CBDT. Nothing here has yet been read in full by a chartered accountant — open an entry to see where it came from.