H.—Profits of non-residents from occasional shipping business
Shipping business of non-residents.
74172. (1) The provisions
of this section shall, notwithstanding anything contained in the other
provisions of this Act, apply for the purpose of the levy and recovery of tax
in the case of any ship, belonging to or chartered by a non-resident, which
carries passengers, livestock, mail or goods shipped at a port in India 75[***].
(2) Where such a ship carries passengers,
livestock, mail or goods shipped at a port in India, 76[seven and a half] per cent of the amount paid
or payable on account of such carriage to the owner or the charterer or to any
person on his behalf, whether that amount is paid or payable in or out of
India, shall be deemed to be income accruing in India to the owner or charterer
on account of such carriage.
(3) Before the departure from any port in
India of any such ship, the master of the ship shall prepare and furnish to the
77[Assessing] Officer a return of the full
amount paid or payable to the owner or charterer or any person on his behalf,
on account of the carriage of all passengers, livestock, mail or goods shipped
at that port since the last arrival of the ship thereat:
Provided that where the 77[Assessing] Officer is satisfied that it is not possible for the master
of the ship to furnish the return required by this sub-section before the
departure of the ship from the port and provided the master of the ship has
made satisfactory arrangements for the filing of the return and payment of the
tax by any other person on his behalf, the 77[Assessing] Officer may, if the return is filed within thirty days of
the departure of the ship, deem the filing of the return by the person so
authorised by the master as sufficient compliance with this sub-section.
(4) On receipt of the return, the 77[Assessing] Officer shall assess the income
referred to in sub-section (2) and determine the sum payable as tax thereon at
the rate or rates 78[in force] applicable to the total income of a company which has not
made the arrangements referred to in section 194
and such sum shall be payable by the master of the ship.
79[(4A) No order assessing the income and determining the sum of tax
payable thereon shall be made under sub-section (4) after the expiry of nine
months from the end of the financial year in which the return under sub-section
(3) is furnished:
Provided that where the return under sub-section (3)
has been furnished before the 1st day of April, 2007, such order shall be made
on or before the 31st day of December, 2008.]
(5) For the purpose of determining the tax
payable under sub-section (4), the 80[Assessing] Officer may call for such accounts or documents as he may
require.
(6) A port clearance shall not be granted to
the ship until the Collector of Customs, or other officer duly authorised to grant
the same, is satisfied that the tax assessable under this section has been duly
paid or that satisfactory arrangements have been made for the payment thereof.
(7) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to
prevent the owner or charterer of a ship from claiming before the expiry of the
assessment year relevant to the previous year in which the date of departure of
the ship from the Indian port falls, that an assessment be made of his total
income of the previous year and the tax payable on the basis thereof be
determined in accordance with the other provisions of this Act, and if he so
claims, any payment made under this section in respect of the passengers,
livestock, mail or goods shipped at Indian ports during that previous year
shall be treated as a payment in advance of the tax81 leviable for that assessment year, and the
difference between the sum so paid and the amount of tax found payable by him
on such assessment shall be paid by him or refunded to him, as the case may be.
82[(8) For the purposes of this section, the
amount referred to in sub-section (2) shall include the amount paid or payable
by way of demurrage charge or handling charge or any other amount of similar
nature.]