Retrospective taxation through a purportedly clarificatory...

Retrospective taxation through a purportedly clarificatory amendment cannot create a fresh charge or withdraw benefits accrued under the unamended law. The Finance Act, 2010 amendment to section 9, which dispensed with the requirement that technical services be rendered in India, was treated as substantive and applied prospectively despite its stated retrospective date. The notes also state that beneficial Board circulars could be withdrawn only prospectively. Where domestic law and the India-USA DTAA permitted competing interpretations, the interpretation favourable to the assessee prevailed; technical-service income required rendition and utilisation of services in India. The amendment therefore could not impose tax on offshore technical services retrospectively.