¹(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other provisions of this Act and subject to the provisions of this Chapter, any income accruing or arising to, or received by, a person, being a unit holder of an investment fund, out of investments made in the investment fund, shall be chargeable to income-tax in the same manner as if it were the income accruing or arising to, or received by, such person had the investments made by the investment fund been made directly by him.
(2) Where in any previous year, the net result of computation of total income of the investment fund without giving effect to the provisions of clause (23FBA) of section 10 is a loss under any head of income and such loss cannot be or is not wholly set-off against income under any other head of income of the said previous year, then,—
(i) such loss shall be allowed to be carried forward and it shall be set-off by the investment fund in accordance with the provisions of Chapter VI; and
(ii) such loss shall be ignored for the purposes of sub-section (1).
(3) The income paid or credited by the investment fund shall be deemed to be of the same nature and in the same proportion in the hands of the person referred to in sub-section (1), as if it had been received by, or had accrued or arisen to, the investment fund during the previous year subject to the provisions of sub-section (2).
(4) The total income of the investment fund shall be charged to tax—
(i) at the rate or rates as specified in the Finance Act of the relevant year, where such fund is a company or a firm; or
(ii) at maximum marginal rate in any other case.
(5) The provisions of Chapter XIID or Chapter XIIE shall not apply to the income paid by an investment fund under this Chapter.
(6) The income accruing or arising to, or received by, the investment fund, during a previous year, if not paid or credited to the person referred to in sub-section (1), shall subject to the provisions of subsection (2), be deemed to have been credited to the account of the said person on the last day of the previous year in the same proportion in which such person would have been entitled to receive the income had it been paid in the previous year.
(7) The person responsible for crediting or making payment of the income on behalf of an investment fund and the investment fund shall furnish, within such time as may be prescribed2 , to the person who is liable to tax in respect of such income and to the prescribed income-tax authority, a statement in the prescribed form and verified in such manner, giving details of the nature of the income paid or credited during the previous year and such other relevant details, as may be prescribed.
Explanation 1.—For the purposes of this Chapter,—
(a) “investment fund” means any fund established or incorporated in India in the form of a trust or a company or a limited liability partnership or a body corporate which has been granted a certificate of registration as a Category I or a Category II Alternative Investment Fund and is regulated under the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Alternative Investment Fund) Regulations, 2012, made under the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 (15 of 1992);
(b) “trust” means a trust established under the Indian Trusts Act, 1882 (2 of 1882) or under any other law for the time being in force;
(c) “unit” means beneficial interest of an investor in the investment fund or a scheme of the investment fund and shall include shares or partnership interests.
Explanation 2.—For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that any income which has been included in total income of the person referred to in sub-section (1) in a previous year, on account of it having accrued or arisen in the said previous year, shall not be included in the total income of such person in the previous year in which such income is actually paid to him by the investment fund.