Nature of expenses - apportioning the licence fee as partly...

Nature of expenses - apportioning the licence fee as partly revenue and partly capital - variable licence fee paid by the assessees under the New Telecom Policy, 1999 - it cannot be axiomatically held that an expenditure which in its core, capital in nature, is actually to be treated as a revenue expenditure simply because the payment is structured in instalments. - Though the licence fee is payable in a staggered or deferred manner, the nature of the payment, which flows plainly from the licensing conditions, cannot be recharacterized. - Such a payment has to be treated or characterized as capital only. - SC