royalty received from books

[satbir singhwahi]

Company is receiving royalty on books , whether taxable under service tax ?

[Rajagopalan Ranganathan]

Sir,

Sl. No. 15 (a) of Notification No. 25/5012-ST dated 20.6.2012 as amended exempts "services provided by way of temporary transfer or permitting the use or enjoyment of a copyright covered under clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 13 of the Copyright Act, 1957 (14 of 1957), relating to original literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works."

[YAGAY and SUN]

https://www.taxtmi.com/article/detailed?id=802

[Himansu Sekhar]

It means the company has exploited commercially the copyrights and received the royalty. The royalty is not for original literary creations and hence taxable

[satbir singhwahi]

Thks for reply .

[Himansu Sekhar]

The reply is basically as per the circular of the Department. It appears the company has obtained the copy rights from the original authors.

AI Summary

Copyright royalty taxation: royalties for original literary works may be exempt, but commercial exploitation of acquired copyrights can be taxable.
Exemption covers services by way of temporary transfer or permitting the use or enjoyment of copyright in original literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works, so royalties paid for use of original works are exempt from service tax. If a company has acquired copyrights and commercially exploits them, the royalty may be treated as payment for a taxable service rather than an exempt royalty for original literary creations.