Tax Treatment of Dividend Received from the Company

Up to Assessment Year 2020-21, if a shareholder gets a dividend from a domestic company then he shall not be liable to pay any tax on such dividend as it is exempt from tax under section 10(34) of the Act. However, in such cases, the domestic company is liable to pay a Dividend Distribution Tax (DDT) under section 115-O. The Finance Act, 2020 has abolished the DDT and moved to the classical system of taxation wherein dividends are taxed in the hands of the investors.

Therefore, the provisions of Section 115-O shall not be applicable if the dividend is distributed on or after 01-04-2020. Thus, if the dividend is distributed on or after 01-04- 2020 the domestic companies shall not be liable to pay DDT and, consequently, shareholders shall be liable to pay tax on such dividend income. As dividends would now be taxable in the hands of the shareholder, various provisions of the Act have been revived such as the allowability of expenses from dividend income, deductibility of tax from dividend income, treatment of inter-corporate dividends, etc.

In this part, you can gain knowledge about the taxability of dividends distributed by domestic companies on or after 01-4-2020.

Meaning of Dividend

Dividend usually refers to the distribution of profits by a company to its shareholders. However, in view of Section 2(22) of the Income-tax Act, the dividend shall also include the following:

1. Distribution of accumulated profits to shareholders entailing release of the company's assets;
2. Distribution of debentures or deposit certificates to shareholders out of the accumulated profits of the company and issue of bonus shares to preference shareholders out of accumulated profits;
3. Distribution made to shareholders of the company on its liquidation out of accumulated profits;
4. Distribution to shareholders out of accumulated profits on the reduction of capital by the company; and
5. Loan or advance made by a closely held company to its shareholder out of accumulated profits.

Taxability of dividend received on or after 01-04-2020

The taxability of dividends in the hands of the company as well as shareholders from Assessment Year 2021-22 would be as under:

Obligation of the domestic companies

The domestic companies shall not be liable to pay DDT on dividends distributed to shareholders on or after 01-04-2020. However, domestic companies shall be liable to deduct tax under Section 194.

 

As per Section 194, which shall be applicable to dividends distributed, declared or paid on or after 01-04-2020, an Indian company shall deduct tax at the rate of 10% from dividends distributed to the resident shareholders if the aggregate amount of dividend distributed or paid during the financial year to a shareholder exceeds Rs. 5,000. However, no tax shall be required to be deducted from the dividend paid or payable to Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC) or any other insurer in respect of any shares owned by it or in which it has full beneficial interest. However, where the dividend is payable to a non-resident or a foreign company, the tax shall be deducted under Section 195 in accordance with relevant DTAA

Taxability in the hands of shareholders

Section 10(34), which provides an exemption to the shareholders in respect of dividend income, is withdrawn from Assessment Year 2021-20. Thus, dividends received during the financial year 2020-21 and onwards shall now be taxable in the hands of the shareholders. Consequently, Section 115BBDA which provides for taxability of dividends in excess of Rs. 10 lakh has no relevance as the entire amount of dividend shall be taxable in the hands of the shareholder.

The taxability of dividends and tax rate thereon shall depend upon many factors like the residential status of the shareholders and the relevant head of income. In the case of a non-resident shareholder, the provisions of Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAAs) and Multilateral Instrument (MLI) shall also come into play.

Taxable in the hands of resident shareholder

Dividend income is taxable under the head ‘Income from other sources’ irrespective of the fact that the person held securities either as a trader or as an investor.

Deductions from dividend income

The assessee can claim a deduction of only interest expenditure that has been incurred to earn that dividend income to the extent of 20% of total dividend income. No deduction shall be allowed for any other expenses including commission or remuneration paid to a banker or any other person for the purpose of realising such dividend.

Tax rate on dividend income

The dividend income shall be chargeable to tax at normal tax rates as applicable in case of an assessee except where a resident individual, being an employee of an Indian company or its subsidiary engaged in Information technology, entertainment, pharmaceutical or biotechnology industry, receives a dividend in respect of GDRs issued by such company under an Employees' Stock Option Scheme. In such a case, the dividend shall be taxable at the concessional tax rate of 10% without providing for any deduction under the Income-tax Act. However, the GDRs should be purchased by the employee in foreign currency.

Taxability in case of non-resident shareholders including FPIs

A non-resident generally invests in India either directly as a private equity investor or as a Foreign Portfolio Investor (FPIs). A non-resident person can also be a promoter of an Indian Company. A non-resident person generally holds shares of an Indian company as an Investment and, therefore, any income derived by way of dividend is taxable under the head of other sources.

As regards FPIs, securities held by them are always treated as capital assets and not as stock-in-trade. Thus, in the case of FPIs also, the dividend income shall always be taxable under the head of other sources.

Tax rate on dividend income

The dividend income, in the hands of a non-resident person (including FPIs and non-resident Indian citizens (NRIs)), is taxable at the rate of 20% without providing for deduction under any provisions of the Income-tax Act. However, the dividend income of an investment division of an offshore banking unit shall be taxable at the rate of 10%.

Further, where the dividend is received in respect of GDRs of an Indian Company or Public Sector Company (PSU) purchased in foreign currency, the tax shall be charged at the rate of 10% without providing for any deductions. The relevant sections under which tax is charged are as under.

Section	Assessee	Particulars	Tax Rate
Section 115AC	Non-resident	Dividend on GDRs of an Indian Company or Public Sector Company (PSU) purchased in foreign currency	10%
Section 115AD	FPI	Dividend income from securities (other than units referred to in section 115AB)	20%
	Investment	Dividend income from securities (other than units referred to in section 115AB)	10%
	division of an
	offshore banking
	unit
Section 115E	Non-resident Indian	Dividend income from shares of an Indian company purchased in foreign currency.	20%
Section 115A	Non-resident or foreign co.	Dividend income in any other case	20%

Withholding tax

Where the dividend is distributed to a non-resident shareholder, the tax shall be required to be deducted as per section 195 of the Income-tax Act. However, where the dividend is distributed or paid in respect of GDRs of an Indian Company or Public Sector Company (PSU) purchased in foreign currency or to Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs), the tax shall be required to be deducted as per section 196C and section 196D, respectively. As per section 195, the withholding tax rate on dividends shall be as specified in the Finance Act of the relevant year or under DTAA, whichever is applicable in case of an assessee. Whereas, the withholding tax rate under section 196C and 196D is 10% and 20%, respectively.

Section (chargeability    of income)	Section (withholding of tax)	Nature of Income	Rate of TDS (Payee is any other non- resident)	Rate of TDS (Payee is a foreign company)
Section 115AC	Section 196C	Dividend on GDRs of an Indian Company or Public Sector	10%	10%
		Company (PSU) purchased in foreign currency
Section	Section	Dividend income of §  FPIs from securities §  Investment division of an offshore banking unit
115AD	196D		20%	20%
			10%	10%
Section 115E	Section 195	Dividend income of non-resident Indian from shares of an Indian company purchased in foreign currency.	20%*	-
Section 115A	Section 195	Dividend income of a non-resident in any other case	30%*	40%*

*If the withholding tax rate as per DTAA is lower than the rate prescribed under the Finance Act then tax shall be deducted at the rate prescribed under DTAA.

Taxability under DTAA

Dividend income is generally chargeable to tax in the source country as well as the country of residence of the assessee and, consequently, the country of residence provides a credit of taxes paid by the assessee in the source country. Thus, the dividend income shall be taxable in India as per provisions of the Act or as per the relevant DTAA, whichever is more beneficial. As per most of the DTAAs India has entered into with foreign countries, the dividend is taxable in the source country in the hands of the beneficial owner of shares at a rate ranging from 5% to 15% of the gross amount of the dividends.

 

In DTAA with countries like Canada, Denmark, Singapore, the dividend tax rate is further reduced where the dividend is payable to a company which holds specific percentage (generally 25%) of shares of the company paying the dividend. However, no minimum time limit has been prescribed in these DTAAs for which such shareholding should be maintained by the recipient company. Therefore, MNCs were often found misusing the provisions by increasing their shareholding in the company declaring immediately before declaration of the dividend and offloading the same after getting the dividend. India does not face this situation as dividend income is exempt from tax in the hands of the shareholders. However, after the proposed amendment, India too will face the risk of tax avoidance by foreign company by artificially increasing the holding in the dividend declarant domestic company.

India is a signatory to the Multilateral Convention (MLI) which shall implement the measures recommended by the OECD to prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting. MLI is a binding international legal instrument that is envisaged with a view to swiftly implement the measures recommended by OECD to prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting in existing bilateral tax treaties in force. With respect to dividend income, Article 8 (Dividend Transfer Transactions) of MLI provides for a minimum period of 365 days for which a shareholder, receiving dividend income, has to maintain its shareholding in the company paying the dividend to get the benefit of the reduced tax rate on the dividend.

Inter-corporate dividend

As the taxability of dividend is proposed to be shifted from companies to shareholders, the Government has introduced a new section 80M under the Act to remove the cascading effect where a domestic company receives a dividend from another domestic company. However, nothing has been prescribed where a domestic company receives dividend from a foreign company and further distribute the same to its shareholders. The taxability in such cases shall be as under:

Domestic co. receives dividend from another domestic co.

The provisions of section 80M remove the cascading effect by providing that inter- corporate dividend shall be reduced from total income of company receiving the dividend if the same is further distributed to shareholders one month prior to the due date of filing of return.

Domestic co. receives dividend from a foreign co.

Dividend received by a domestic company from a foreign company, in which such a domestic company has 26% or more equity shareholding, is taxable at a rate of 15% plus Surcharge and Health and Education Cess under Section 115BBD. Such tax shall be computed on a gross basis without allowing the deduction for any expenditure. Dividend received by a domestic company from a foreign company, in which equity shareholding of such domestic company is less than 26%, is taxable at normal tax rate. The domestic company can claim deduction for any expense incurred by it for the purposes of earning such dividend income.

Note: The Finance Act, 2022 has amended the Section 115BBD to provide that the provisions of this section shall not apply to any assessment year beginning on or after 01- 04-2023.

Exemption for inter-corporate dividend distribution within IFSC Units engaged in the aircraft leasing business [Section 10(34B)]

The Finance Act 2023 has introduced a new clause (34B) in Section 10, which will come into effect from the assessment year 2024-25. This clause exempts dividend income earned by an IFSC unit primarily engaged in aircraft leasing business. However, the exemption is subject to the condition that the company paying the dividend should also be an IFSC unit and engaged in the aircraft leasing business.

No MAT on dividend income of a foreign company

Provisions relating to MAT apply to a foreign company only when it is a resident of a country with which India has DTAA and it carries on business through a PE situated in India. However, it should not be taxable under the presumptive taxation schemes of Section 44B, Section 44BB, Section 44BBA or Section 44BBB. Once it is determined that the foreign company is liable to pay MAT, certain adjustments are made from its profits.

However, the following incomes (and expenses claimed in respect thereof) are added back to (or reduced from) the net profit if same is credited (or debited) in the profit and loss account, if such income is taxable at a rate lower than the rate of MAT:

(a) Capital gain from securities;

(b) Interest;

(c) Royalty;

(d) FTS.

Thus, a foreign company is not liable to pay MAT on the aforesaid incomes.

Considering the taxability of dividend in the hands of the foreign company, the Finance Bill, 2021 has amended section 115JB to provide that dividend income and expenses claimed in respect thereof to be added back or reduced from the net profit if such income is taxed at lower than MAT rate due to DTAA.

It should be noted that the dividend income shall be taxable in the hands of a foreign company in accordance with the provisions of the Act or relevant DTAA, whichever is more beneficial.

Advance tax liability on dividend income

If the shortfall in the advance tax instalment or the failure to pay the same on time is on account of dividend income, no interest under section 234C shall be charged provided the assessee has paid full tax in subsequent advance tax instalments. However, this benefit shall not be available in respect of the deemed dividend as referred to in Section 2(22)(e).

Original Copy of Income Tax Article