Notification of Sovereign Wealth Fund under the section to(23FE) of the Income-tax Act, 1961

Circular No. 15 of 2020

Notification of Sovereign Wealth Fund under the section to(23FE) of the Income-tax Act, 1961

The Finance Act, 2020, inter alia, inserted clause (23FE) in section 10 the Income-tax Act, 1961 (the Act) to provide for exemption to the income of a specified person in the nature of dividend, interest or long-term capital gains arising from the investment made by it in India if the investment is made in specified infrastructure business (including business notified vide Notification No 44/2020 dated 06.07.2020, i.e., Infrastructure sub-sectors mentioned in Harmonised Master List updated as on 13.08.2018) during the period from 01.04.2020 to 31.03.2024, and held for at least three years.

2. The specified person for this purpose has been defined to mean wholly-owned subsidiaries of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), notified Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), and notified Pension Funds (PF), which fulfill conditions specified in the clause or to be prescribed for the PF.

3. In order to facilitate the process of notification of the SWF, the Board, in the exercise of powers conferred under section 119 of the Act, hereby specifies that the SWF shall file an application in Form I in the Annexure to this circular. The Form I shall be filed with the Member (Legislation), Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, North Block, ew Delhi during the financial year 2020-21 and thereafter to the Member, CBDT having supervision and control over the work of Foreign Tax and Tax Research Division.

4. Further, the SWF shall be required to file a return of income along with the audit reports. It shall also be required to file a quarterly statement within one month from the end of the quarter electronically in Form II in respect of each investment made during the quarter in the Annexure to this circular. The Principal Director General of Income Taxi Director General of Income Tax (Systems) shall lay down the necessary procedure for furnishing and verification of Form II.

Enclosure: ANNEXURE.

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