Section 115VZ — Demerger

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

Section 115VZ — Demerger

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. Carrying the Scheme through a demerger

Section 115VZ is the demerger counterpart of s.115VY. Where, in a scheme of demerger, the demerged company transfers its business to the resulting company before the option expires, the Scheme applies, 'as far as may be', to the resulting company for the UNEXPIRED period, if it is a qualifying company. The proviso preserves the demerged company's own option for its unexpired period so long as it continues to be a qualifying company. The provision thus splits the benefit cleanly: the resulting company inherits the Scheme for the transferred business, while the demerged company retains it for what it keeps.

2. Reading with the reserve and re-entry rules

Section 115VZ should be read with s.115VT(4)(c), which expressly excludes a transfer 'in any scheme of demerger' from the three-year clawback on disposal of a reserve-funded new ship — so a bona fide demerger does not by itself trigger reserve-misuse taxation. As with amalgamation, the unexpired-period approach preserves the s.115VQ ten-year horizon across the reorganisation.

B. STATUTORY POSITION (verbatim operative text)

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

115VZ. Where in a scheme of demerger, the demerged company transfers its business to the resulting company before the expiry of the option for tonnage tax scheme, then, subject to the other provisions of this Chapter, the tonnage tax scheme shall, as far as may be, apply to the resulting company for the unexpired period if it is a qualifying company:

Provided that the option for tonnage tax scheme in respect of the demerged company shall remain in force for the unexpired period of the tonnage tax scheme if it continues to be a qualifying company.

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

C. AUTHORITIES

Candour note: No reported decision construes s.115VZ directly. It is a Chapter-specific overlay on general demerger law, to be read with s.115VT(4)(c); the Supreme Court's framing governs.

C-1 Continuity of the presumptive bargain (Supreme Court framing)

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.