Subscription receipts for online research access treated as royalty under domestic law and treaty, not business income.

Subscription receipts from Indian customers for access to online research products were treated as royalty under section 9(1)(vi) and Article 12 of the India-Ireland DTAA, rather than business income, because the Tribunal followed the consistent view already taken in the assessee's own earlier years. The access model operated through internet-based service agreements for fee-based use of research products, and the receipts were held to fall within the royalty scope under both domestic law and the treaty. The issue was therefore decided against the assessee and in favour of the Revenue.

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Issues: Whether the subscription receipts earned by the assessee from Indian customers for access to online research products were taxable as royalty under section 9(1)(vi) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 and Article 12 of the India-Ireland Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement, instead of being treated as business income.

Analysis: The appeals involved identical facts to earlier assessment years in the assessee's own case. The subscription model enabled Indian customers to access research products through the internet against fees paid under service agreements. The assessment authorities recharacterised the receipts as royalty, and the appellate authorities had followed prior Tribunal orders which had already upheld the same treatment for earlier years. The Tribunal noted that the issue had repeatedly been decided against the assessee on the basis of consistency and the earlier binding view taken in the assessee's own case, including the conclusion that the receipts fell within the scope of royalty under the domestic law and the treaty.

Conclusion: The subscription receipts were correctly assessed as royalty and not as business income; the issue was decided against the assessee and in favour of the Revenue.

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