TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1983 (10) TMI 107
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....g Rs. 38,140 from British Broadcasting Corporation,London(Rs. 29,700) and Roper Public Opinion Research Centre,Williamstown,Massachusetts(USA) (Rs. 8,440). The stand of the assessee before the ITO was that in respect of the said receipts it was entitled to the deduction under section 80-O of the Income-tax Act, 1961 ('the Act'). This was not acceptable to the ITO as the above foreign enterprises from whom the technical services fees were received, were not according to the ITO, 'foreign companies'. 3. Aggrieved by the said assessment, the assessee brought the matter by way of appeal before the Commissioner (Appeals) who after going through the provisions of section 80-O has agreed with the assessee by observing as under : " It is clea....
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.... the section need not have referred to, as it does, other condition of the fees being received from a foreign company. It is settled law that the provisions of a fiscal statute do not admit of convenience as a safe guide to their construction. ' ...However, difficult it may be to believe that Parliament ever really intended the consequences of a literal interpretation, we can only take the intention of Parliament from the words which they have used in the Act, and, therefore, the question is whether these words are capable of a more limited construction. If not, then we must apply them as they stand, however, unreasonable or unjust the consequences, and however, strongly we may suspect that this was not the real intention of Parliament. ....
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....the above appeal, section 80-O reads as under : " Deduction in respect of royalties, etc., received from certain foreign companies.--Where the gross total income of an assessee being an Indian company includes any income by way of royalty, commission, fees or any similar payment received by it from a foreign company in consideration for the use of any patent, invention, model, design, secret formula or process, or similar property right, or information concerning industrial, commercial or scientific knowledge, experience or skill made available or provided or agreed to be made available or provided to the foreign company by the assessee, or in consideration of technical services rendered or agreed to be rendered to the foreign company by....
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....'domestic company'. 'Domestic company' is defined in section 80B(2) to mean "an Indian company" or any other company which, in respect of its income liable to tax under this Act, has made the prescribed arrangements for the declaration and payment within India, of the dividends including dividends on preference shares payable out of such income". After hearing both the sides, we can safely say that there can be no dispute that either of BBC, London or Roper Public Opinion Research Centre, USA, is not, a 'domestic company' as defined in section 80B(2). We say so because neither of them is "an Indian company, or any other company which, in respect of its income liable to tax under this Act, has made the prescribed arrangements for the declara....
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....e Commissioner (Appeals) was correct in rejecting the claim of the assessee for deduction under section 80-O. We hold likewise. 7. The decision of the Delhi High Court in the case of the assessee reported as CIT v. Indian Institute of Public Opinion Co. (P.) Ltd. [1982] 134 ITR 23, is distinguishable on fact because over there the point at issue was not involved. We hold likewise. 8. In the result, the appeal by the assessee fails and is hereby dismissed. 9. I agree. Though there appears to be a contradiction in the definition of a 'foreign company' appearing in section 80B(4) with the main provisions of section 80-O in that the definition placed restrictions on the qualifying payments by allowing deduction only on those payments r....