ITAT held that amounts received by the non-resident assessee...

ITAT held that amounts received by the non-resident assessee from Indian group entities towards payments made to seconded personnel are mere reimbursement of salary and not Fee for Technical Services (FTS) u/s 9(1)(vii) or under Art. 12(4) of the India-Japan DTAA. On examining the appointment letters and Form 16, the Tribunal found a genuine employer-employee relationship between the Indian entities and the seconded employees: salary liability rested with the Indian entities, employees worked under their control and supervision, and TDS was deducted on salaries. Consequently, the Revenue's recharacterization as FTS was rejected and the additions were deleted.

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