Royalty and fees for technical services under the India-Germany...

Royalty and fees for technical services under the India-Germany DTAA are taxable on receipt rather than accrual basis. Consideration for restricted, non-exclusive standard software licences that do not transfer copyright rights is not royalty under the Act or treaty. Separate scopes of work, invoicing, consideration and no profit-and-loss sharing prevent consortium members from constituting an association of persons; joint and several liability and indemnities alone are insufficient. Offshore equipment-supply income is not taxable in India merely because it forms part of a composite project. Transfer-pricing adjustments require a prescribed method and cannot rest on an ad hoc mark-up where transaction differences are reconciled and benchmarking is undisputed.