2015 (12) TMI 516 - AT - Income Tax

Tribunal directs exclusions, corrects treatment of gains/losses, and instructs interest verification.

Rolls-Royce India Pvt. Ltd. Versus DCIT, New Delhi

Rolls-Royce India Pvt. Ltd. Versus DCIT, New Delhi - TMI Issues Involved:1. Addition on account of Arm's Length Price (ALP) under section 92CA(3) of the Income-tax Act.2. Legality of the assessment order.3. Errors in the Transfer Pricing Officer (TPO) and Dispute Resolution Panel (DRP) findings.4. Non-allowance of credit for prepaid taxes.5. Initiation of penalty proceedings under section 271(1)(c).6. Interest charged under sections 234B and 234C.Detailed Analysis:1. Addition on Account of ALP:The primary issue was the addition of Rs. 3,71,14,107/- to the assessee's income based on the ALP determined by the TPO. The assessee contended that the TPO and DRP erred by:- Rejecting the assessee's comparables without cogent reasons.- Using erroneous filters and cherry-picking high-margin comparables.- Comparing the assessee's support services to high-end technical services, despite the assessee being a non-risk bearing entity.The TPO's determination of the Profit Level Indicator (PLI) at 20.98%, later adjusted to 22.70% by the DRP, was based on a set of comparables that included companies providing high-end technical services. The assessee argued that 90% of its services were non-technical support services, and thus, comparables should reflect this.The tribunal agreed with the assessee, directing the exclusion of RITES Ltd., Apitco Ltd., and Kitco Ltd. from the list of comparables, as they were not functionally similar to the assessee's non-risk bearing support services.2. Legality of the Assessment Order:The assessee claimed that the assessment order was bad in law. However, this issue was not separately addressed in detail in the judgment, as the focus remained on the specifics of the ALP determination and the comparables used.3. Errors in TPO and DRP Findings:The tribunal found several errors in the TPO and DRP's approach:- The TPO wrongly rejected the assessee's segmental details and failed to allocate costs correctly.- The tribunal emphasized the importance of selecting comparables based on functional similarity, especially considering the assessee's non-risk bearing nature.- The TPO's exclusion of foreign exchange gains/losses and provision for doubtful debts from operating income/cost was incorrect. The tribunal directed these to be treated as operating items, referencing the Supreme Court's decision in Woodward Governor and other tribunal decisions.4. Non-Allowance of Credit for Prepaid Taxes:The tribunal did not provide a detailed analysis of this issue, as it was not pressed by the assessee during the proceedings.5. Initiation of Penalty Proceedings:The tribunal noted that the initiation of penalty proceedings under section 271(1)(c) was premature and thus did not address it substantively.6. Interest Charged Under Sections 234B and 234C:The assessee contended that interest under section 234B was wrongly computed for 65 months instead of 58 months. The tribunal directed the Assessing Officer (AO) to verify and recalculate the interest accordingly.Conclusion:The tribunal partly allowed the assessee's appeal, directing the exclusion of certain comparables and the correct treatment of foreign exchange gains/losses and provision for doubtful debts. The AO was instructed to verify the computation of interest under section 234B. The initiation of penalty proceedings was deemed premature.