Section 80P – Deduction for Co-operative Societies

Income-tax laws in India have provisions for various profit linked deductions to encourage investments in certain industries. These deductions are provided in the Income Tax Act, 1961, under Chapter VI-A under the heading ‘C. – Deductions in respect of certain incomes’. 

These deductions are available under Sections 80H to 80RRB with respect to profits and gains of specific industries such as hotel business, small-scale industrial undertaking, housing projects, export business, and infrastructure development. 

One of the deductions available under this chapter is deductions with respect to the income or gains of co-operative societies, which is provided under Section 80P of the Income Tax Act. A deduction is allowed to the extent of the actual profit earned by the assessee from the specified activities of the co-operative society.

Budget 2022 update 
FM proposes to reduce the Alternate Minimum Tax (AMT) Rates to 15% from 18.5% for the co-operative societies.

Deductions under Section 80P

Under this section, a certain specified income of a co-operative society engaged in specific activities is considered as a deduction if such income is included in the gross total income of the society. 

Meaning of a Co-operative society for the purpose of Section 80P

A co-operative society is not defined specifically for the purpose of Section 80P. However, Section 2(19) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, defines a co-operative society as an entity registered under the Co-operative Societies Act, 1912 or any other law governing the registration of co-operative societies in any state.

Activities and amount eligible for deduction under Section 80P

* ‘Consumers’ co-operative society’ means a society for the benefit of its consumers 

** ‘Urban consumers’ co-operative society’ means a society for the benefit of the consumers within the limits of a municipal corporation, municipality, municipal committee, notified area committee, town area or cantonment.

Specific exclusions

Section 80P is made not applicable to any co-operative bank (including Regional Rural Banks) other than a primary agricultural credit society (as defined in the Banking Regulation Act) or a primary co-operative agricultural and rural development bank (a society having its area of operation confined to a taluk and the principal object of which is to provide long-term credit for agricultural and rural development activities). 

Benefit of deduction is withdrawn with an intention to treat co-operative banks on par with commercial banks who do not enjoy any such tax benefit.

What if a co-operative society is also eligible for profit-linked deductions under other Sections?

If a co-operative society is also eligible for profit-linked deduction under Section 80HH, 80HHA, 80HHB, 80HHC, 80HHD, 80-I, 80-IA, 80J, the deduction allowed under Section 80P is from the gross total income after reducing the deductions under these sections.

Key points to be noted

• Section 80P, for different scenarios, uses different terms for the purpose of deduction such as ‘profits and gains of business attributable to such activities’, ‘profits and gains of such business’, ‘profits and gains attributable to such activities’, ‘income derived’ etc. These terms need to be analyzed in depth considering the various commentaries on income tax and case laws.
• Various high courts have held that all co-operative societies other than those coming under the control of RBI are eligible for a deduction. A co-operative society conducting banking activities is not a co-operative bank licensed by the Reserve Bank of India. It can, therefore, claim deductions under Section 80P.
• Meaning of various other terms such as ‘cottage industry’, ‘marketing’, ‘members’ ‘industry’, ‘investment’ etc., are also analyzed in various decisions.
• Section 80P profit is not considered to increase the adjusted total income for Alternate Minimum Tax levy.