ITAT held that amounts received by a non-resident corporate...

ITAT held that amounts received by a non-resident corporate assessee (Belgian tax resident) from two Indian group entities do not constitute fees for technical services (FTS) under Article 12(3)(b) of the India-Belgium DTAA or s.9(1)(vii) of the Act on the facts before it. The Tribunal found the services were not managerial, technical or consultancy in character; where some tasks might prima facie meet technical or consultancy tests, the Department failed to discharge the onus by adducing cogent evidence. The Functional Services Agreement and prior non-classification of receipts supported the assessee. The ITAT reversed the Departmental treatment of the receipts as FTS (and rejected inconsistent royalty/FTS characterisation).