Many conglomerates and companies are looking to create strategies and structures around utilising unused Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) credit lying on their books and also availing lower corporate tax rates, even when the government recently said they could do only one of the two. Some of the largest companies that have thousands of crores lying on their balance sheets in the form of unused MAT credit are looking to go for setting up new companies, demerging current ones or exploring to go for a slump sale. These companies basically want to utilise the MAT credit but also not let go of lower tax rates, said industry insiders. For many companies MAT credit is as high as Rs 1,500 crore. MAT credit is something similar to advance taxes paid and could be set off against future tax liabilities arising for the company.