SC: Only Income Directly From Long-Term Finance Qualifies for Section 36(1)(viii) Deduction; NCDC Appeals Rejected

The National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), a statutory body promoting cooperative activities in agriculture and allied sectors, claimed deductions under Section 36(1)(viii) of the Income Tax Act across various years. The Assessing Officer held that none of these receipts arose from the corporation’s core activity of providing long-term finance. Dividend was treated as return on share capital, interest was attributed to temporary parking of surplus funds, and SDF service charges were viewed as agency fees for administering government-owned funds.

The CIT(A), ITAT, and the High Court upheld the disallowances, stressing the statutory definition of “long-term finance” and the narrow phrasing “profits derived from” in Section 36(1)(viii). The High Court held that NCDC’s investments in preference shares were not loans, that bank deposit interest flowed from independent sources, and that SDF receipts were not profits from NCDC’s own lending activity. Aggrieved, NCDC approached the Supreme Court in multiple connected civil appeals.

Main Issue: Whether dividend income, interest on short-term bank deposits, and service charges on SDF loans qualify as “profits derived from the business of providing long-term finance” for the purpose of deduction under Section 36(1)(viii) of the Income Tax Act.

SC Held: The Hon’ble Bench dismissed all appeals, holding that Parliament, through the Finance Act, 1995, deliberately ring-fenced the deduction to income directly and exclusively “derived from” long-term finance. The Court reiterated that “derived from” requires a strict first-degree nexus and is narrower than “attributable to.” Relying on precedents such as Cambay Electric, Sterling Foods, Pandian Chemicals, Liberty India, and Bacha F. Guzdar, the Court rejected NCDC’s “integrated business” theory and emphasised that fiscal incentives must be construed strictly.

The Court held that dividends on redeemable preference shares arise from shareholding and not lending; interest on short-term deposits is merely attributable to temporary placement of surplus funds and not derived from long-term finance; and service charges on SDF loans flow from NCDC’s role as a government-appointed nodal agency, not from deploying its own capital. Since none of the receipts satisfied the statutory definition, the deduction was denied.

Therefore, all connected civil appeals were dismissed with no order as to costs.

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