Fees for Technical Services Even if rendered outside india

Fees for technical services are taxable in india , even if services rendered outside india.

Fees for Technical Services, even if rendered outside India, are taxable

Ashapura Minichem vs. ADIT (ITAT Mumbai)

The assessee, an Indian company, entered into an agreement with a Chinese company for bauxite testing services in its laboratories (outside India) and for preparation of test reports. The assessee filed an application u/s 195(1) in which it argued that as the services were rendered outside India and the recipient did not have a permanent establishment in India, the payments were not chargeable to tax under the India-China DTAA and no tax was required to be withheld at source. The AO took the view that the payments constituted “fees for technical services” u/s 9(1)(vii) and Article 12 of the DTAA and tax was required to be withheld at 10%. This was upheld by the CIT (A). The assessee appealed to the Tribunal. HELD dismissing the appeal: