Amortisation of preliminary expenses allows spreading eligible start-up costs over successive years subject to statutory cap and compliance conditions.
The provision permits amortisation of specified preliminary and project-related expenditures by resident Indian assessees through equal annual deductions over five successive tax years beginning with the year the undertaking becomes operational or the year of commencement. Eligible items include feasibility and project reports, market surveys, engineering services, specified legal and registration costs, prospectus and public issue expenses for companies, and other prescribed items not deductible under any other provision. A statutory cap restricts the allowable deduction to a percentage of project cost or capital employed, with project cost tied to actual cost as shown in the books, and procedural conditions require prescribed filings and audited accounts for certain taxpayers.