I participated in an international software contest in which the organiser company awarded the money based on how many times a participant's software was downloaded by people worldwide. The contest lasted 4-5 months and my software was downloaded most no. of times worldwide by general public so I was awarded the money by the organiser company.
Now my questions are:
1. Will the money I receieved be considered under lottery? (Since there was no lucky draw, there was no judging panel, only lakhs of common people determined who wins and it took lots of efforts from my side to market the software worldwide so I think it should not be considered a lottery).
2. In any case, can I get tax exemptions (based on my costs of developing the software, equipment, marketing cost etc.)
I'm an Indian citizen and am self employed. The organiser company is Korea based but they do have their office in India. I developed the software in India and received the money in India.
Kindly advice.
Thanks
Gagan
CAclubindia
