Does business of providing high speed wireless internet access fall under the ambit of TDS Section 194C or 194J?

The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal has ruled that the business of providing high-speed wireless internet access does not fall under the definition of 'fees for technical services' as per Section 9(1) of the Act. Therefore, the relevant TDS provisions are not Section 194J but rather Section 194C. The tribunal set aside the Commissioner's order, directing the deletion of additions made for short TDS deduction and related interest.

IN THE INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL
‘A’ BENCH, CHENNAI

BEFORE SHRI V. DURGA RAO, JUDICIAL MEMBER AND
SHRI G. MANJUNATHA, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER

ITA No.: 2842/CHNY/2019

Assessment Year: 2017-18

M/s. Infonet Comm
Enterprises Pvt. Ltd.,
468/10, Balaji Nagar,
Tiruchengode Road,
Namakkal – 637 003.
PAN: AACCM 8749D

Appellant

vs

The Income Tax Officer,
TDS Ward,
Salem.

Respondent

Appellant by : Shri T.S. Lakshmi Narayanan, FCA

Respondent by : Shri G. Suresh Periasamy, JCIT

Date of Hearing : 19.07.2021

Date of Pronouncement : 28.07.2021

O R D E R

This appeal filed by the assessee is directed against order of learned Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), Salem
dated 25.06.2019 and pertains to assessment year 2017-18.

2.The ld.AR for the assessee at the time of hearing submitted that there is a delay of 1 day in filing appeal before
the Tribunal for which necessary petition for condonation of appeal along with affidavit has been filed explaining the reason for delay in filing the appeal.

3.The brief facts of the case are that the assessee M/s.Infonet Comm Enterprises Pvt. Ltd., is engaged in the
business of service provider for bandwidth communication sold by M/s. Bharthi Airtel Ltd and M/s. Reliance Communications Ltd.

4. The ld.AR for the assessee submitted that the ld.CIT(A) has erred in sustaining the action of the AO to compute short
deduction of TDS and related interest u/s.201(1) & 201(1A) of the Act, without appreciating the fact that the assessee company is engaged in the business of providing high speed wireless internet access to its customers without any human intervention and hence, said services cannot be called as fees for technical services, as defined u/s.9(1) of the Act, which attracts provisions of section 194J of the Act.

5. Accordingly, we set aside the order of the ld.CIT(A) and direct the AO to delete additions made towards short deduction of TDS and interest u/s.201(1) / 201(1A) of the Act.

6. In the result, the appeal filed by the assessee is allowed.
Order pronounced in the court on 28th July, 2021 at Chennai.

Please find attached the enclosed file for the full judgement