Section 115VH — Calculation in Case of Joint Operation

CHAPTER XII-G — SPECIAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO INCOME OF SHIPPING COMPANIES (TONNAGE TAX)

Section 115VH — Calculation in case of joint operation, etc.

Case Laws & Commentary · Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended by the Finance Act, 2026) · bharattax.co Treatise

Chapter / Part: Chapter XII-G (Special Provisions Relating to Income of Shipping Companies — the Tonnage Tax Scheme), inserted by the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2004 w.e.f. 1-4-2005 (AY 2005-06).

Finance Act, 2026: No amendment. The Finance Act, 2026 does not touch any section of Chapter XII-G (verified against the Finance Act, 2026 text).

Finance Act, 2025: Extended the Scheme to inland vessels (Inland Vessels Act, 2021) — inland-vessel words inserted across the Chapter w.e.f. 1-4-2026; s.115VP timeline/IFSC provisos also added. Text below is the in-force position for AY 2026-27.

A. SECTION COMMENTARY

1. Two situations of shared operation

Section 115VH addresses ships operated jointly. Sub-section (1) deals with a qualifying ship operated by two or more companies through a joint interest in the ship, or under an agreement for its use, where the shares are 'definite and ascertainable' — there, each company's tonnage income is its proportionate share. Sub-section (2), 'subject to' sub-s.(1), provides that where two or more companies are 'operators' of a qualifying ship (i.e. not on a definite ascertainable-share basis), each is taxed AS IF it were the only operator — the full tonnage income is computed in each operator's hands.

2. Relationship with the charter vocabulary and joint charter

The provision dovetails with s.115VB, under which 'joint charter' is one of the arrangements that constitute 'operating' a part of a ship, and with the 'deemed tonnage' concept (slot/space/joint arrangements) recognised in s.115VG(4). The Supreme Court's reasoning in Trans Asian Shipping — that the Scheme is designed to capture modern shared-capacity shipping arrangements without insisting on identification of a single ship or operator — informs the construction of s.115VH.

B. STATUTORY POSITION (verbatim operative text)

Section 115VH, Income-tax Act, 1961 (Chapter XII-G):

115VH. (1) Where a qualifying ship is operated by two or more companies by way of joint interest in the ship or by way of an agreement for the use of the ship and their respective shares are definite and ascertainable, the tonnage income of each such company shall be an amount equal to a share of income proportionate to its share of that interest.

(2) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (1), where two or more companies are operators of a qualifying ship, the tonnage income of each company shall be computed as if each had been the only operator.

Unamended by the Finance Act, 2025 and the Finance Act, 2026.

C. AUTHORITIES

Candour note: No reported decision construes s.115VH directly. The Supreme Court's slot/joint-charter reasoning (which treats shared-capacity arrangements as 'operating') is the nearest governing authority.

C-1 Shared-capacity arrangements within the Scheme (Supreme Court)

CIT v. Trans Asian Shipping Services (P) Ltd — (2016) 385 ITR 637 (SC) / [2016] 71 taxmann.com 35 / (2016) 241 Taxman 30 (SC)

Forum / Bench: Supreme Court of India; T.S. Thakur CJI, A.K. Sikri J and R. Banumathi J. Judgment dated 5 July 2016, affirming the Kerala High Court and the Cochin Bench of the Tribunal.

Provisions: Sections 115VA, 115VB, 115VF, 115VG (including the s.115VG(4) Explanation on 'deemed tonnage') and 115VX, read with Rule 11Q; Chapter XII-G generally.

Issue: Whether income from 'slot charter' operations of a tonnage tax company can be included in 'tonnage income' under the Tonnage Tax Scheme (TTS) even where those operations are carried on in ships that are NOT the company's own 'qualifying ships' — and whether production of the tonnage certificate referred to in s.115VX is a pre-condition for computing such slot-charter income.

Held: Allowing the assessee, the Court held that although only income from operating a 'qualifying ship' is computed under Chapter XII-G, s.115VB expressly treats a company as 'operating a ship' even where only a PART of a ship has been chartered in under an arrangement such as slot charter, space charter or joint charter. A slot-charter arrangement is made with a shipping line and not in relation to an identified ship, so the carrying vessel (and its certificate) cannot be identified. The 'deemed tonnage' mechanism in the Explanation to s.115VG(4) — covering purchase of slots, slot charter and sharing of break-bulk vessel — was introduced precisely to capture such arrangements; to insist on a s.115VX certificate for slot charters would render deemed tonnage otiose. The s.115VX certificate requirement therefore does NOT apply to slot/space-charter operations and the slot-charter income is includible in tonnage income.

Ratio / why it matters: The leading — and only — Supreme Court authority on Chapter XII-G. It settles the architecture of the Scheme: (i) the charging provision is s.115VA read with s.115VF and s.115VG; (ii) the TTS is a 'preferential regime of taxation' to be construed to advance its object of making Indian shipping globally competitive (Rakesh Mohan Committee, January 2002); and (iii) 'deemed tonnage' is a distinct head of tonnage not dependent on a ship-specific certificate. The Court relied on CBDT Circular No. 5/2005 dated 15-7-2005 and reaffirmed that CBDT circulars explaining a scheme bind the Department.

Compiled for the bharattax.co Treatise on the Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended by the Finance Act, 2026). Statutory text reproduced verbatim from the Income-tax Act, 1961 (text as in force on and after 1 April 2026, incorporating the inland-vessel insertions made by the Finance Act, 2025 with effect from 1 April 2026). Citations are stated as reported; tribunal and stay-stage orders are flagged as such. Where a section has not been judicially construed, that is stated candidly and the nearest governing authority is given. This material is for professional reference and is not legal advice.