Section 44B(1) — the law in short
What the courts have decided on section 44B(1), 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 — section 44B: the 7.5 per cent shipping presumption, and why clause (i) and clause (ii) of sub-section (2) are not symmetrical
CBDT Circulars & InstructionsCuts both ways
We are a foreign shipping line assessed under section 44B. The Assessing Officer has included freight we collected abroad and also our demurrage. What actually goes into the "aggregate of the amounts" under section 44B(2), and does it matter where the money was received?
It matters, but only for cargo shipped at a port OUTSIDE India. Section 44B(2) has two clauses and they are deliberately different: clause (i) takes in the amount paid or payable "whether in or out of India" on account of carriage of passengers, livestock, mail or goods shipped at any port IN India, so where the freight was collected is irrelevant for an Indian loading; clause (ii) takes in only the amount "received or deemed to be received in India" on account of carriage of goods shipped at any port OUTSIDE India, so for a foreign loading receipt in India is the condition of charge. The Explanation to sub-section (2) then provides that the amount referred to in either clause shall include amounts by way of demurrage charges or handling charges or any other amount of similar nature.
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.