Tonnage tax option remains valid despite delayed certificate where substantive eligibility was shown and application was timely.

A timely application for the tonnage tax scheme under section 115VP is not defeated merely because the formal tonnage certificate is filed later, where the qualifying company otherwise satisfies the substantive eligibility conditions. The requirement for the certificate was treated as procedural machinery, and later production was held to relate back to the date of the valid application. On the stated facts, the delay arose from procedural difficulties beyond the assessee's control, so approval under the tonnage tax scheme was sustained and the Revenue's challenge failed.

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Issues: Whether the assessee's option to be assessed under the tonnage tax scheme could be approved under section 115VP despite delay in filing the valid tonnage certificate.

Analysis: The relevant provisions governing the tonnage tax scheme show that a qualifying company may exercise the option by making an application in the prescribed manner, and that a qualifying ship must be a sea-going ship of the prescribed net tonnage, duly registered, with a valid certificate indicating net tonnage in force. On the facts, the assessee had applied within time, had obtained registry particulars showing the ship's identity and tonnage details, and the delay in producing the formal tonnage certificate was attributable to procedural difficulties beyond its control. The requirement relating to the certificate was treated as part of the procedural machinery for exercising the option, and not as a ground to defeat the claim where the substantive eligibility was otherwise shown. The later production of the certificate was held to relate back to the date of the timely application.

Conclusion: The delay in filing the tonnage certificate did not invalidate the assessee's option, and approval under section 115VP was /was upheld in favour of the assessee.

Final Conclusion: The Revenue's challenge failed, and the assessee's entitlement to have its application considered under the tonnage tax scheme was sustained.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the substantive conditions for opting into the tonnage tax scheme are otherwise satisfied, a delayed supporting certificate, filed later due to circumstances beyond the assessee's control, may be treated as a procedural lapse that does not defeat a timely application.

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