Residential status verification governs foreign tax credit entitlement; the claim was remanded pending factual determination of non-resident status.

Residential status had to be verified on the basis of the passport and actual stay in India before the foreign tax credit claim could be decided. The assessee's claim of non-resident status was not properly examined below, so the Tribunal remanded the matter to the Assessing Officer for factual verification. If the assessee is found to be non-resident for the relevant year, the foreign tax credit for tax paid in Indonesia is to be allowed; if not, the claim must be reconsidered accordingly. Form 67 could not cure the absence of a conclusive finding on residence, since entitlement to the credit depended first on the foundational residential status determination.

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Issues: (i) Whether the assessee's residential status for the relevant year required verification on the basis of the passport and stay in India; (ii) whether the claim for foreign tax credit could be decided without such verification, including the impact of Form 67.

Issue (i): Whether the assessee's residential status for the relevant year required verification on the basis of the passport and stay in India.

Analysis: The assessee asserted that he stayed in India only for a short period during the previous year and produced passport details to support the claim of non-resident status. The lower authority declined the claim mainly on the ground that the passport copy did not clearly establish the duration of stay. The record indicated that the factual aspect of residence had not been properly verified and that a remand verification was necessary.

Conclusion: The residential status was required to be verified by the Assessing Officer, and the matter was remanded for that purpose.

Issue (ii): Whether the claim for foreign tax credit could be decided without such verification, including the impact of Form 67.

Analysis: The assessee had claimed credit for tax paid in Indonesia on salary income earned outside India. The entitlement to such credit depended on the factual determination of whether the assessee was non-resident for the year. Since that foundational issue was not finally examined below, the credit claim could not be conclusively upheld or rejected at that stage. The Tribunal directed that, if the assessee was found to be non-resident, the foreign tax credit should be allowed.

Conclusion: The foreign tax credit claim was left to be decided afresh after verification of residential status, and would be allowable if non-resident status was established.

Final Conclusion: The matter was sent back for factual verification of residential status, with consequential reconsideration of the foreign tax credit claim in accordance with the finding on residence.

Ratio Decidendi: Where residential status is the foundation for entitlement to foreign tax credit, and that status has not been properly verified, the matter must be remanded for factual determination before the credit claim is adjudicated.

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