Section 115JEE — Case Laws & Commentary

CHAPTER XII-BA — SPECIAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO CERTAIN PERSONS OTHER THAN A COMPANY (ALTERNATE MINIMUM TAX)

SECTION 115JEE — APPLICATION OF THIS CHAPTER TO CERTAIN PERSONS

Case Laws & Commentary · Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended by the Finance Act, 2026) · Live Provision — the applicability and threshold rule

Status: LIVE. Section 115JEE defines who is within, and who is outside, the AMT net. It was inserted by the Finance Act, 2012 with effect from 1 April 2013 (assessment year 2013-14), when AMT was widened from limited liability partnerships to all persons other than companies. Sub-section (2A) — excluding a specified fund referred to in clause (c) of the Explanation to section 10(4D) — was added to carve out IFSC specified funds.

Finance Act, 2026 impact: None. The Finance Act, 2026 does not amend section 115JEE.

A. SECTION COMMENTARY

A.1 Purpose and place in the scheme

Section 115JEE answers the gateway question: to whom does Chapter XII-BA apply? Sub-section (1) brings within the Chapter any person who has claimed a deduction under (a) any section other than section 80P falling under heading “C” of Chapter VI-A, or (b) section 10AA, or (c) section 35AD. Sub-section (2) provides a relief threshold: the Chapter does not apply to an individual, a Hindu undivided family, an association of persons, a body of individuals (whether incorporated or not) or an artificial juridical person if the adjusted total income of such person does not exceed twenty lakh rupees. Critically, that threshold is confined to those categories — a firm, a limited liability partnership or any other person not listed has no twenty-lakh floor and is exposed to AMT on the first rupee of adjusted total income once a specified deduction is claimed. Sub-section (2A) excludes a specified fund under section 10(4D). Sub-section (3), a saving clause, preserves the AMT credit under section 115JD notwithstanding sub-sections (1) and (2).

A.2 Core doctrinal themes

Theme (1) — The trigger is the claiming of a heading-C, section 10AA or section 35AD deduction. The Chapter applies because such a deduction has been claimed; no claim, no AMT. Theme (2) — The twenty-lakh threshold is category-specific. It shelters only individuals, HUFs, AOPs, BOIs and artificial juridical persons; firms and LLPs are outside the shelter. Theme (3) — The applicability of the Chapter is determined for the previous year as a whole; this dovetails with the section 115JC jurisprudence holding that AMT cannot be applied in part. Theme (4) — Even where the Chapter does not otherwise apply in a given year, the AMT credit is preserved (sub-section (3)).

B. STATUTORY POSITION (verbatim)

Reproduced verbatim from the Income-tax Act, 1961 (Bare Act, as amended by the Finance Act, 2025; unchanged by the Finance Act, 2026):

Application of this Chapter to certain persons.

115JEE. (1) The provisions of this Chapter shall apply to a person who has claimed any deduction under— (a) any section (other than section 80P) included in Chapter VI-A under the heading “C.—Deductions in respect of certain incomes”; or (b) section 10AA; or (c) section 35AD.

(2) The provisions of this Chapter shall not apply to an individual or a Hindu undivided family or an association of persons or a body of individuals, whether incorporated or not, or an artificial juridical person referred to in sub-clause (vii) of clause (31) of section 2, if the adjusted total income of such person does not exceed twenty lakh rupees.

(2A) The provisions of this Chapter shall not apply to specified fund referred to in clause (c) of the Explanation to clause (4D) of section 10.

(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1) or sub-section (2), the credit for tax paid under section 115JC shall be allowed in accordance with the provisions of section 115JD.

C. CASE LAW — CLUSTERED BY ISSUE

Cluster C-1 : The trigger under sub-section (1)(a) — a heading-C claim brings the person within the Chapter, with no grandfathering

The two Pune Tribunal decisions discussed in detail in the Section 115JC file are, equally, decisions on section 115JEE(1)(a): in each the assessee had claimed a deduction under section 80-IB(10), which falls under heading “C” of Chapter VI-A, and the dispute was whether that claim brought the assessee within Chapter XII-BA for the year. The Tribunal answered that it did.

Deputy Commissioner of Income-tax v. Vikram Developers & Promoters, ITAT Pune Bench “B”, ITA No. 608/Pune/2020, A.Y. 2014-15, 10 January 2023 [TS-21-ITAT-2023(PUN)]; and Assistant Commissioner of Income-tax v. Vijay Tukaram Raundal [2023] 147 taxmann.com 53 (Pune-Trib.).

Held / Ratio: Where a person claims a deduction under a heading-C section (such as section 80-IB(10)) in a previous year falling on or after assessment year 2013-14, the Chapter applies to that person for that year. There is no grandfathering by reference to the date on which the underlying project or activity was approved, and the Chapter cannot be applied to part only of the previous year’s income. (Full facts, holding and sourcing are set out in the Section 115JC file; the citations are repeated here because the same orders are the governing authority on the section 115JEE(1) trigger.)

Relevance to this section: Confirms that sub-section (1)(a) operates on the fact of a heading-C claim in the year, and that the applicability question is decided for the previous year as a whole.

Source: ITAT Pune Bench · ITA No. 608/Pune/2020, TS-21-ITAT-2023(PUN); [2023] 147 taxmann.com 53 (Pune-Trib.). Verified via BCAJ (March 2023), Taxsutra and Taxmann.

Cluster C-2 : The twenty-lakh threshold and the interaction with the new regime — candour

As at the date of writing there is no reported decision turning specifically on the computation of the twenty-lakh threshold in sub-section (2); it is administered arithmetically on the adjusted total income. Two practical points deserve emphasis. First, the threshold is category-specific: it shelters individuals, HUFs, AOPs, BOIs and artificial juridical persons, but not firms or LLPs, which remain exposed without any floor. Second, a person who is taxed under section 115BAC(1A) (the default new personal regime) or who has opted into section 115BAC(5)/115BAD(5)/115BAE(5) is taken out of AMT by section 115JC(5) and section 115JD(7) — that exclusion operates through the charging and credit sections, not through section 115JEE. The saving in sub-section (3) ensures that an AMT credit already earned is not forfeited merely because the Chapter does not bite in a particular year.

D. PRACTITIONER NOTES

(1) First classify the client: a firm or LLP claiming a heading-C, section 10AA or section 35AD deduction has no twenty-lakh shelter; an individual/HUF/AOP/BOI/artificial juridical person is sheltered only while adjusted total income stays at or below twenty lakh rupees. (2) Test the trigger on the fact of the deduction claimed, and remember the applicability is decided for the whole previous year (Vikram Developers; Vijay Tukaram Raundal). (3) Preserve the AMT credit under sub-section (3) even in a year the Chapter does not otherwise apply. (4) For the new regime, look to section 115JC(5)/115JD(7), not to section 115JEE, for the exclusion. (5) Note the IFSC specified-fund carve-out in sub-section (2A).