ITAT held that the lease agreements between the assessees (as...

ITAT held that the lease agreements between the assessees (as lessors) and various aviation companies (as lessees) for leasing Airbus aircrafts are, in substance and form, operating leases. The Tribunal noted that the agreements are identical across all appeals and are pari materia with previously examined aircraft lease transactions, warranting consistent characterization. Consequently, income from such leasing is to be assessed as operating lease income and not as income from the operation of aircraft in international traffic. Further, following its earlier coordinate bench ruling on identical facts, ITAT denied the assessees' claim for benefit under Article 8 of the India-Ireland tax treaty and dismissed the assessees' appeals.

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