Subscription fees received for providing online access to market...

Subscription fees received for providing online access to market research reports on the pharmaceutical sector were assessed as "royalty" deemed to accrue or arise in India under the Indo-Switzerland tax treaty. The tribunal held that the receipts were for providing information and reports without conferring any copyright or similar intellectual property right, and the customer merely obtained access to the content through an online platform; therefore, the consideration did not fall within the treaty definition of "royalty." The addition treating subscription fees as taxable royalty was deleted and the assessment order was set aside, resulting in the appeal being allowed. - ITAT