TDS u/s 195 - payments made to its Non-Resident Telecom...

TDS u/s 195 - payments made to its Non-Resident Telecom Operators (NTOs) for provision of bandwidth capacity and provision of interconnect services - The Tribunal referred to previous proceedings involving the payer (the domestic entity making the payments), where it was initially held that the payments constituted Royalty/FTS and were taxable under section 9 of the Act. However, this decision was later overturned by the jurisdictional High Court, which ruled that the payments were not Royalty/FTS. Relying on the High Court's judgment, the Tribunal concluded that the payments could not be taxed in the hands of the assessee under section 9 of the Act or the relevant DTAA. Therefore, the CIT(A)’s decision to allow the appeal of the assessee was upheld.