<h1>India Exempts Foreign Companies from MAT: Amendment to Section 115JB Effective from April 2001 via Finance Act, 2016.</h1> Foreign portfolio investors raised concerns about the applicability of Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) on them. In response, the Indian government formed a committee led by Justice A. P. Shah to examine these issues. Based on the committee's recommendations, an amendment to section 115JB of the Income-tax Act, 1961, was enacted through the Finance Act, 2016. This amendment exempts foreign companies from MAT from April 1, 2001, if they are residents of countries with which India has tax agreements and lack a permanent establishment in India, or if they are from countries without such agreements and are not required to register under Indian company laws.