Section Text
In section 32 of the Income-tax Act, with effect from the 1st day of April, 1997, -
(a) in sub-section (1), after the words "plant or furniture owned", the words, "wholly or party," shall be inserted;
(b) in sub-section (1), after the third proviso, the following proviso shall be inserted, namely :-
"Provided also that the aggregate deduction, in respect of depreciation of buildings, machinery, plant or furniture allowable to the predecessor and the successor in the case of succession, referred to in section 170 or the amalgamating company and the amalgamated company in the case of amalgamation, as the case may be, shall not exceed in any previous year the deduction calculated at the prescribed rates as if the succession or the amalgamation had not taken place, and such deduction shall be apportioned between the predecessor and the successor, or the amalgamating company and the amalgamated company, as the case may be, in the ratio of the number of days for which the assets were used by them.";
(c) for sub-section (2), the following sub-section shall be substituted, namely:-
'(2) Where in the assessment of the assessee full effect cannot be given to any allowance under clause (ii) of sub-section (1) in any previous year owing to there being no profits or gains chargeable for that previous year or owing to the profits or gains being less than the allowance, then, the allowance or the part of allowance to which effect has not been given (hereinafter referred to as unabsorbed depreciation allowance), as the case may be, -
(i) shall be set off against the profits and gains, if any, of any business or profession carried on by him and assessable for that assessment year;
(ia) if the unabsorbed depreciation allowance cannot be wholly set off under clause (i), the amount not so set off shall be set off from the income under any other head, if any, assessable for that assessment year;
(ii) if the unabsorbed depreciation allowance cannot be wholly set off under clause (i) and clause (ia), the amount of allowance not so set off shall be carried forward to the following assessment year and -
(a) it shall be set off against the profits and gains, if any, of any business or profession carried on by him and assessable for that assessment year;
(b) if the unabsorbed depreciation allowance cannot be wholly so set off, the amount of unabsorbed depreciation allowance not so set off shall be carried forward to the following assessment year not being more than eight assessment years immediately succeeding the assessment year for which the aforesaid allowance was first computed :
Provided that the business or profession for which the allowance was originally computed continued to be carried on by him in the previous year relevant for that assessment year :
Provided further that the time limit of eight assessment years specified in sub-clause (b) shall not apply in the case of a company for the assessment year beginning with the assessment year relevant to the previous year in which the said company has become a sick industrial company under sub-section (1) of section 17 of the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985 (1 of 1986) and ending with the assessment year relevant to the previous year in which the entire net worth of such company becomes equal to or exceeds the accumulated losses.
Explanation : For the purposes of this clause, "net worth" shall have the meaning assigned to it in clause (ga) of sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985 (1 of 1986).'.