WHAT IS MINIMUM ALTERNATE TAX (MAT)
Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT)
Companies can reduce their tax liability through various provisions of the Income-Tax Act, such as exemptions, deductions, depreciation, etc. There have been instances of some companies even managing to show nil taxable income despite making substantial profits and paying out dividends, thanks to the various tax concessions and incentives. The tax provision known as Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) was created to bring these ‘zero-tax paying companies’ within the ambit of income tax and make them pay a minimum amount in tax to the government.
To improve accountability, and to ensure that no company avoided paying taxes, the Government of India in 1988 came up with the concept of MAT, which facilitates the taxation of zero-tax companies. Introduced by the Finance Act, 1987, MAT came into effect from assessment year 1988-89. According to MAT, such companies are liable to pay to the government by deeming a certain percentage of their book profit as taxable income.