Section 44C — the law in short
What the courts have decided on section 44C, in one screen. Read this first; open an entry when you need the facts, the reasoning and the source.
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DIT (IT)-I, Mumbai v American Express Bank Ltd
Supreme CourtHelps departmentValidity unconfirmed
Does the section 44C ceiling bite only on head office expenditure shared with other branches, or also on expenditure the head office incurred exclusively for the Indian branch?
It bites on both. The Explanation to s.44C defines head office expenditure by two things only: that it is incurred outside India, and that it is executive and general administrative expenditure of the kind listed. Nothing in it says the expenditure must be common or shared. The Bombay High Court's contrary view in Emirates Commercial Bank was held to be wrong.
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.