Approval for eligible projects under Section 35AC of IT Act only till Dec.31, 2016

The Department of Income Tax has said that requests received after December 31, 2016 for grant, modification and extension of approval for eligible projects or schemes under Section 35AC of the Income Tax Act, 1961 beyond March 31, 2017 shall not be considered or entertained by the national committee.

Section 35AC of the Income Tax Act, inter alia provides for a deduction in computing the business income of an assessee, of the amount paid by him to a public sector company or a local authority or to an association or institution approved by the National Committee for carrying out any eligible project or scheme.

Section 35AC of the Income Tax Act, as amended by the Finance Act, 2016, provides that no deduction under this section shall be allowed in respect of any assessment year commencing on or after April 1, 2018.

Accordingly, the benefit of deduction under section 35AC of the I.T. Act is available only up to previous year ending March 31, 2017 (Assessment Year 2017-18) in respect of payments made to association or institution already approved by the National Committee for carrying out any eligible project or scheme.