Insertion of new Chapter X-A - GENERAL ANTI-AVOIDANCE RULE

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....sp;   (a) creates rights, or obligations, which are not ordinarily created between persons dealing at arm's length;           (b) results, directly or indirectly, in the misuse, or abuse, of the provisions of this Act;           (c) lacks commercial substance or is deemed to lack commercial substance under section 97, in whole or in part; or           (d) is entered into, or carried out, by means, or in a manner, which are not ordinarily employed for bona fide purposes.      (2) An arrangement shall be presumed, unless it is proved to the contrary by the assessee, to have been entered into, or carried out, for the main purpose of obtaining a tax benefit, if the main purpose of a step in, or a part of, the arrangement is to obtain a tax benefit, notwithstanding the fact that the main purpose of the whole arrangement is not to obtain a tax benefit.  Arrangement to lack commercial substance      97. (1) An arrangement shall be deemed to lack commercial substance, if-  &nbs....

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....bsp;      (B) the time, or sequence, in which the funds involved in the round trip financing are transferred or received; or                (C) the means by, or manner in, or mode through, which funds involved in the round trip financing are transferred or received.      (3) For the purposes of this Chapter, a party to an arrangement shall be an accommodating party, if the main purpose of the direct or indirect participation of that party in the arrangement, in whole or in part, is to obtain, directly or indirectly, a tax benefit (but for the provisions of this Chapter) for the assessee whether or not the party is a connected person in relation to any party to the arrangement.      (4) For the removal of doubts, it is hereby clarified that the following may be relevant but shall not be sufficient for determining whether an arrangement lacks commercial substance or not, namely:-           (i) the period or time for which the arrangement (including operations therein) exists;   &nbs....

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....;       (g) considering or looking through any arrangement by disregarding any corporate structure.      (2) For the purposes of sub-section (1),-           (i) any equity may be treated as debt or vice versa;           (ii) any accrual, or receipt, of a capital nature may be treated as of revenue nature or vice versa; or           (iii) any expenditure, deduction, relief or rebate may be recharacterised.  Treatment of connected person and accommodating party.      99. For the purposes of this Chapter, in determining whether a tax benefit exists,-           (i) the parties who are connected persons in relation to each other may be treated as one and the same person;           (ii) any accommodating party may be disregarded;           (iii) the accommodating party and any other party may be treated as one and the same....

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....               (f) a company, firm or an association of persons or a body of individuals, whether incorporated or not, or a Hindu undivided family having a substantial interest in the business of the person or any director, partner, or member of the company, firm or association of persons or body of individuals or family, or any relative of such director, partner or member;               (g) a company, firm or association of persons or body of individuals, whether incorporated or not, or a Hindu undivided family, whose director, partner, or member has a substantial interest in the business of the person, or family or any relative of such director, partner or member;               (h) any other person who carries on a business, if-                   (i) the person being an individual, or any relative of such person, has a substantial interest in the business of that other person; or   &nbsp....

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.... under this Act as a result of a tax treaty; or          (e) a reduction in total income; or          (f) an increase in loss, in the relevant previous year or any other previous year;      (11) "tax treaty" means an agreement referred to in sub-section (1) of section 90 or sub-section (1) of section 90A.'.   - Clause 24 of the Bill seeks to insert a new Chapter X-A consisting of new sections 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101 and 102 in the Income-tax Act relating to General Anti-Avoidance Rule.     The provisions of the proposed new section 95 provide that an arrangement entered into by an assessee may be declared to be an impermissible avoidance arrangement and consequences in relation to tax of such a declaration can be determined. The proposed section 96 provides the definition and conditions under which an arrangement can be declared to be an impermissible avoidance arrangement. The section also provides  for circumstances under which an arrangement shall be presumed to be entered into or carried out for the main purpose of obtaining ....