ITAT set aside the assessments computed under s.44BB and held...

ITAT set aside the assessments computed under s.44BB and held that the India-Norway DTAA applies; paras 2-3 of Article 21 are inapplicable because the taxpayer, a Norway tax resident providing vessels for transportation on bareboat charter to entities engaged in seabed exploration, is not itself conducting exploration/exploitation. Article 21(4) governs computation of income for enterprises operating vessels, and the AO was directed to compute the taxpayer's total income and tax liability in accordance with Article 21(4) of the India-Norway treaty. Grounds raised by the taxpayer were allowed and the matter remitted to the AO for recomputation consistent with this ruling.

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