Marker testing and double haploid services were examined under...

Marker testing and double haploid services were examined under Article 12(4) of the India-Netherlands DTAA to determine if receipts constituted royalty. Since the services did not merely generate reports but converted seeds into double haploid plants and supplied enhanced seeds for commercial exploitation, the process involved technology and scientific experience whose information was passed on to the Indian affiliate, satisfying the treaty's royalty definition; the challenge to royalty characterization was rejected. Separately, amounts recovered on a cost-to-cost basis for routine third-party IT support were treated as reimbursements, and no technical knowledge or process was "made available"; the receipts were held not taxable as FTS under section 9(1)(vii). - ITAT