AI Drafter 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2023 (3) TMI 1304
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....advertisement spaces to other customers in India. The assessee derives more than 97% of its total revenue from advertisement services through its AdWords program worldwide. The AdWords program is used by various business houses to promote their products and services via targeted advertising. The AO on verification of financial statement of GIPL noticed that it had credited an amount of Rs.42,57,53,347/- to the account of the assessee during the relevant assessment year without deducting tax at source under Section 195 of the Act. Further it was noticed by the AO that GIL has also not obtained NIL deduction certificate on the sum received/payable to it. The AO in the hands of GIPL (Payer) had held that the payments made to the assessee are covered under Section 9 of the Act and also under the provisions of DTAA. The AO in the case of GIPL (Payer) passed orders under Sections 201 & 201(1A) of the Act in respect of payments made to the assessee to the tune of Rs.42,51,53,437/-. 3. Based on the orders passed under Section 201 & 201(1A) of the Act in case of GIPL (Payer) notice under Section 148 of the Act was issued to the assessee on 29.03.2014. The assessee filed Nil return of inc....
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....In respect of issue of taxability of payment received by the assessee on sale of online advertisement space directly from advertisers in India, the learned A.R. submitted that the issue is covered in favour of the assessee by the following coordinate bench orders of the Tribunal: - i. Interactive Avenues Private Limited v. DCTT, [ITA 3I30/Mum/2019, decision dated 07.07.2022, (ITAT - Mumbai)], ii. ESPN Digital Media (India) Pvt. Lid. v. DCIT, [ITA 1070/Chny/2018, decision dated 04.05.2022 (ITAT - Chennai)], iii. Matrimony.com Limited v. ACIT, [ITA 1391/Chny/20l9, decision dated 20.04.2022 (ITAT-Chennai)], iv. Play Games 24X7 Private Limited v. DCIT, [ITA 1533/Mum/2019, decision dated 23.03.2022 (ITAT-Mumbai)], v. Myntra Designs Pvt. Ltd. v. DCIT, [ITA 598/Bang/2020, decision dated 03.09.2021 (ITAT-Bengaluru)], vi. Urban Ladder Home Decor Solutions Pvt, Ltd. v. ACIT, [ITA 615/Bang/2020, decision dated 17.08.2021 (ITAT-Bengaluru)], vii. Inception Business Services v. ITO, [ITA 2674/Chny/2016, decision dated 18.02.2019 (ITAT-Chennai)], viii. ITO v. Right Florists Pvt. Ltd., (2013) SCC OnLine ITAT 6870 (ITAT - Koika....
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.... dated 19.10.2022 and IT(IT)A No. 1190,1295/B/2014 & IT(IT)A No. 97/B/2019 & IT(IT)A No. 949& 950/B/2017 dated 15.12.2022. Firstly, these decisions rendered by the Hon'ble ITAT Bangalore in the case of Google India Pvt. Ltd. were with respect orders passed u/s 201(1) and 201(1A) of the I.T. Act. Secondly, the Hon'ble ITAT Bangalore, while deciding these appeals in favour of the assessee i.e. Google India Pvt. Ltd , relied upon the decision of Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Engineering Analysis Centre of Excellence Private Limited Vs CIT & Anr. (2021) 432 ITR 471 (SC). 2. In the case of Engineering Analysis Centre of Excellence Private Limited Vs CIT & Anr. (2021) 432 ITR 471 (SC) the Hon'ble Supreme Court has rendered its decision only on 4 categories of cases. The relevant Para 4 of the order of the Hon'ble Supreme Court is reproduced below : "4. The appeals before us may be grouped into four categories: i) The first category deals with cases in which computer software is purchased directly by an end-user, resident in India, from a foreign, non-resident supplier or manufacturer. ii) The second category of cases deals with....
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.... company entered into an agreement with M/s. Google India Pvt. Ltd.(GIPL) for AdWords Program Distribution Agreement. As per this agreement the assessee company has given the marketing & distribution rights of AdWord programme to the advertisers in India. 4.2 Marketing and distribution services for the AdWords program - Under the Google AdWords Program Distribution Agreement dated December 12, 2005 ('Agreement') entered into between GIPL and Google Ireland, Google India is appointed as a non-exclusive authorized Distributor/Reseller of AdWords program to the advertisers in India 4.3 Under the Amended Google AdWords Program Distribution Agreement dated December 12, 2005 ("Distribution Agreement or Agreement") entered into between Google India Pvt. Ltd. (GIPL) and Google Ireland Ld., Google India was granted the marketing and distribution rights of AdWords program to the advertisers in India. GIPL has a distribution team which markets and distributes the AdWords program to the advertisers in India. For these services, GIPL is remunerated on a cost plus mark-up basis for the distribution services under the AdWords program. 4.4. The appellant....
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....ing in the respective country/location chosen by the advertisers; and (ii) not infringing any copyright/trade mark registered by other advertisers. This verification process is completely automated. * When the contents are found not in accordance with the advertisement policy, the same is communicated to the advertiser. The advertiser then has to modify the content/description and submit the same to GIL. On receipt of the modified content the above verification process is followed for clearance before the display of advertisement. * Upon clearance of the content/description, the advertisement are uploaded into the system at the data centre and displayed on the webpage. Since the agreements and other transactions are similar to the one entered by GIPL with the appellant company the discussions that are taken for determining the chargeability of receipts from GIPL will apply accordingly for these amounts also. 4.7 The AdWords program is complex computer software that is used by the Advertisers to create, display and maintains advertisements. This aspect also emerges from the description of the Adwords program in the submissions given by the appella....
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....Editing, Search Query Reports and better conversion metrics." 4.9 And as discussed above, by virtue of the Distribution Agreement, the original copyright holder, Google Ireland, has granted GIPL the right to use the Adwords Program in India by authorizing GIPL to advertise, market and distribute the Adwords Program to the Advertisers, thereby transferring the copyright right as stipulated in Section 14(a)(iii) and Sec.14(b)(ii) of the Indian Copyright Act. Thus, the transaction in question involves transfer of copyright right to GIPL, though non-exclusive. 4.10 It does not matter if GIPL has been granted an exclusive or nonexclusive right to market and distribute the Adwords Program in India. In fact any right in respect of a copyright can be conferred, because a copyright is a bundle of rights which may be divided and assigned, or restrained in whole or in parts. 4.11 Therefore it is to be noted that the expression "exclusive right" used in Sec. 14 of the Copyright Act refers to the rights of author/creator and not the "exclusive right" to be given by him to some party to reproduce the copyrighted work or sell the computer programme etc. It also does not....
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....d when the definition clearly provides only for use or the right to use the copyright to as to conclude that only in the event when exclusive rights are transferred, the nature of payment will be deemed to be royalty. 4.14. In the instant case the GIPL has to pay Google Ireland, the appellant for being given the right to use the AdWords Program a) by virtue of having the rights to the advertising and market the AdWords Program b) and the right to sell the license to use the Adwords program to the end-user of AdWords Program who are Advertisers. 4.15 The Advertisers in India are the licensees who are allowed to use the Intellectual Property embedded in the Adwords Programs by GIPL. Yet, by giving the Distributor/Resellser (GIPL) the right to distribute and sell the Adwords Program, the licensor (Google Ireland) has parted with the license which the Distributor/Reseller (GIPL) uses in order to sell the Adwords program to the end-user (Advertisers). The Distributor/Reseller (GIPL) may not be licensed for use of the intellectual property (except the right to market and resell) but nevertheless it has paid the consideration for its use. There is nothi....
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....ut access to the back end GIPL cannot perform its activities of marketing and distribution. The back-end Includes databases, software tools, documents etc which are used by GIPL to distribute and sell the Adwords program and maintain the Adwords account of the advertisers. In order to perform these activities GIPL will have to access the data centres running the Google Adwords platform which are located outside India. GIPL can have access to the processes running on these data centres based on the distribution rights granted to it by Google Ireland. Without access to such process GIPL will not be in a position to carry out the tasks as per the Distribution Agreement. In the submission dated 22nd August 2013 before the A.O it was stated that AdWords Program is operated on the servers located outside India, which are not owned and controlled by GIPL. 4.18 As per the submission made before the A.O, GIPL is involved in performing back office functions for Adwords program which include: a) Response to the queries of client's customers: The queries generated by the customers of Google entities flow from customers through a workflow based on pre-determined parameters....
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....s also granted access to details for the purpose of distribution. c. GIPL provides services relating to the administration of advertisements in accordance with the guidelines provided by Google Ireland and provide customer support services. d. GIPL has to review of the search results to ensure the outcome of the desired results or to improve upon the quality of search results; e. GIPL is involved in the Data processing work i.e. once the advertiser registers for the AdWords through an online process, the advertisement is sent to the IT enabled services team to review for conformation with the editorial guidelines. f. As per the reply of Mr. Vikas Agnihotri, Director Sales - BFSI of GIPL, the billing information of Advertisers from India is available on the servers located outside India which is then accessed by the billing department to issue invoices to its customers. g. GIPL is given exhaustive training on all activities related to Adwords program and also on the software (tools) and systems to be used for the purpose of marketing, for maintenance of adwords accounts, for purpose of billing etc. Clause 3.4 of the distribution ....
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....crue or arise in India. The constitutionality of Section 9 was tested and upheld in numerous cases. Section 9 (v), (vi), and (vii) were inserted by the Finance Act, 1976. Through the abovementioned clauses, income is sought to be taxed by employing the 'Source Rule'. The different types of Income falling within this ambit are Interest, Royalty and Fees for technical services. Income deemed to accrue or arise in India is covered under Section 9 of the Income tax Act of 1961. The proviso to Section 9 (1) (vi) creates an exception for income by way of royalty which is obtained as consideration for the transfer of any data, documentation, drawing or specification relating to any patent, invention, model, design, secret formula or process or trademark or similar property, if such income is payable in pursuance of an agreement. In addition to this, an exception is created for any income by way of Royalty for transfer of rights for any computer software supplied by a non resident manufacturer along with a computer/ computer based equipment. 4.26 The words 'accrue' and 'arise' must be viewed in contradistinction to the word "receive". Income is said to be r....
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....e appellant from direct advertisers in India towards the sale of online ad space are chargeable to tax as 'Royalty' income both under the Act and the India-Ireland DTAA. 5. Finally, in view of detailed discussions on the Para 4 of this written submission, the issues in the case of the appellant company are NOT COVERED by the decision of Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Engineering Analysis Centre of Excellence Private Limited Vs CIT & Anr. (2021) 432 ITR 471 (SC)" 8. We have heard the rival contentions and perused the material on record. The assessee in grounds of appeal has raised 35 grounds. Ground Nos. 13 to 15 relates to taxability of payments received by the assessee from GIPL as per terms of the distribution agreement dated 12.12.2005 as well as the payments received by the assessee directly from Indian advertisers. As regards chargeability of income received from GIPL is concerned we notice that in the hands of GIPL, the AO had show caused why the payment made by it to GIL (assessee in this case) is not in the nature of royalty. The GIPL vide its reply dated 15.02.2013 explained that the payment made by it to GIL is in the nature of advertisement fees....
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....ect based on the search made by the user. The link to various websites related to the search are provided in the search result. Additionally, Google LLC, USA has also developed a computerised advertising program known as Google AdWords Program. Google Ireland Ltd (GIL) is the exclusive licensee and principal operator of the computerised advertising program i.e., "Google AdWords Program" for the whole world outside the USA. The Google AdWords program displays advertisements on Google's search engine. It has a separate website in which the advertisers have to agree to certain terms and conditions including the consideration payable for the targeted Advertisements and provide appropriate keywords on searching of which the websites of the advertisers would be displayed on top of the Google search engine with the abbreviation "Ad". For instance, pursuant to the search query "Fresh Flower Delivery", website of "Ferns N Petals" is listed two times among websites of various other businesses. The listing of the website of "Ferns N Petals" at the top of the list is a sponsored link accompanied by a small abbreviation "Ad", and the other listing is an organic search result as it does not ....
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....iewed by GIL through its automated system located outside India. Remaining global advertisements, which are not successfully reviewed by the automated system, are subjected to a manual review. For carrying out manual review, the balance 6% (approx.) global advertisements are forwarded to one of service centres of GIL's group entities, located in USA, Dublin, China, Korea, Japan, and India. An advertisement in English by an Indian Advertiser may go for manual review to any of these service centres. These service centres carry out the activity of manual review on a cost-plus basis. The assessee also carries out this activity under the ITES segment as per the services agreement dated 1.4.2004 entered into with GIL. The relevant terms and conditions of this agreement are as under: `THIS SERVICES AGREEMENT (''Agreement'') is entered into as of 1st April, 2004 (the "Effective Date''), by and between Google Ireland Limited, a corporation organized under the laws of Ireland ("Ireland'') and having its office at Seagrave House, 19120 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 02, Ireland, and Google Online India Private Limited, a company incorporated under the p....
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....idential nature; or (iii) due to their character or nature, a reasonable person in a like position and under like circumstances would treat them as secret and confidential. Confidential Information does not include information: (i) that is in the public domain through no fault of the receiving party, (ii) that was previously known by receiving party, as established by written records of the receiving party prior to receipt of such information from the providing party or (iii) that was lawfully obtained by the receiving party from a third party without any obligations of confidentiality to Google Ireland. 1.3 "Derivative works Work" shall mean (i) for copyrightable or copyrighted material, any modification. derivative works work (as defined in 17 USC. §101), translation, abridgment, revision or other form in which such material may be recast, transformed or adapted, (ii) for patentable or patented material, any improvement thereon. and (iii) for material protected by trade secret, any new material derived from such existing trade secret material, including new material which may be protected to copyright, patent and/or trade secret. 1.4 "Documentation" shall m....
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.... reproduction, use, testing, operation, maintenance and service of such Products. **** **** ***** 2. SERVICES 2.1 Request Google India hereby agrees to perform certain information technology, information technology enabled services and software development services, as requested by Google Ireland from time to time, with respect to Products, utilizing Google Ireland Software Technology and other appropriate technology from Google Ireland or third parties which may be properly used for these purposes. Google Ireland will specify the information technology, information technology enabled services and software development services to be performed, the Products to be worked on or used, the time line for completion and the specific results to be achieved (the Services"). 2.2 Performance. Upon agreement between Google Ireland and Google India as to the Services and completion date for a particular Services project, Google India will perform the Services. Google India agrees to use commercially reasonable efforts to perform the Services in a timely fashion and as described to it by Google Ireland. Google India may not subcontract work under this Agreemen....
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.... Google India has any rights to Derivative works Works or Software Embodiments that cannot be assigned to Google Ireland under law. Google India hereby waives the enforcement of such rights; and if Google India has any rights which cannot be assigned or waived under law, Google India hereby grants to Google Ireland an exclusive, irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide, transferable, folly paid licence, with rights to sub license and assign, to all such rights. Google India shall enter into agreements with its Representatives sufficient to permit Google India to make the foregoing grant of rights. ****** ****** ***** 6. CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION 6.1 Access and Use of Confidential Information. During the course of performance of this Agreement, Google Ireland will disclose certain Confidential Information to Google India solely to permit Google India to perform its obligations under this Agreement. Except as otherwise provided in this Agreement, Google India agrees that such Confidential Information shall be kept secret by Google India during the term of this agreement and after the expiration hereof Google India shall refrain from using or exploiting any and all ....
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....2005, an Indian Advertiser could get into a contract with GIL only, for purchasing online advertisement space. However, to accommodate Indian Advertiser(s) desirous to pay in Indian Rupees instead of foreign currency, GIL entered into the Google AdWords Program Distribution Agreement dated 12.12.2005 with the-assessee, whereunder the assessee was appointed as a non-exclusive distributor of online advertisement space in India In terms thereof, the assessee set up its "Distribution Segment" for carrying out purchase and re-sale of online advertisement space to Indian Advertisers. However, Indian Advertisers who were willing to pay in foreign currency, continued to transact directly with GIL. The Google AdWords Program and its features remains the same whether the Advertiser in India purchases online advertisement space from GIL or its authorised distributor i.e., the assessee. The only difference is where Indian Advertiser purchases from the assessee, it pays in INR whereas where Indian advertiser purchases from GIL, it pays in foreign currency. 17. In a case where the assessee is involved in purchase and resale of online advertisement space to Advertiser and if such Adverti....
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....ere principal place of business is determined by the place of an entity's registration. 1.2 ''AdWords Program" means the advertising program currently offered by Google under the name ''AdWords.'' 1.3 "Brand Features" means the trade names. trademarks, service marks, logos, domain names, and other distinctive brand features of each party, respectively, as secured by such party from time to time. 1.4 "Designated Contact" means those contacts designated by each party as the point of contact or contacts for a particular function area related to this Agreement. 1.5 "Google Brand Features" means the Google trade names, trademarks, service marks, logos, domain names, and other distinctive brand features, with some but not all examples at "http://www.google. comipermissionsltrademarks.html" (or such other URL that Google may provide from time to time), and such other trade names, trademarks, service marks, logos, domain names, or other distinctive brand features that Google may provide to Distributor for use solely under this Agreement. 1.6 "Intellectual Property Rights" shall mean any and all rights existing from ti....
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....butor will distribute AdWords Program in accordance with the training provided by Google. Failure to do so would constitute a material breach of this Agreement and shall be grounds for termination under section 9.3. 2.3 AdWords Program Sign Up Process. Distributor shall be responsible for uploading all Advertiser information that is required by Google for participation in the AdWords Program. 2.4 Licences; Approvals. Distributor shall be responsible for obtaining all licences and permits and for satisfying all formalities as may be required to enter into this Agreement and to perform its obligations in accordance with then-prevailing laws and regulations, including without limitation those necessary to enable Distributor to make payments to Google in US dollars. Distributor will promptly secure all governmental approvals as may be required in the Territory or performance of its obligations under this Agreement. 2.5 Compliance with United States and Other Applicable Law; Conduct of Business. Distributor will comply with all United States and local laws and regulations applicable to the distributor of the goods and services. including but not limited to the....
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.... Distributor's marketing and distribution of AdWords Program under the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in this Agreement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Distributor will submit all materials of any kind containing the Brand Features) to Google for written approval prior to release to the public. Furthermore, Distributor agrees to adhere to Google's then-current Brand Features use guidelines, and any content referenced or included therein, which may be found at the following URL: http://www.google.comlpermissionslguidelines.html (or such other URL that Google may provide from time to time) and to such other guidelines or restrictions provided by Google in writing to Distributor in connection herewith. Except as set forth in this Agreement, Distributor shall not acquire any right, title or interest in or to the Google Brand Features. All use by Google of Distributor Brand features (including any goodwill associated therewith shall inure to the benefit of Distributor and all use by Distributor of Go ogle Brand Features (including any goodwill associated therewith) shall inure to the benefit of Google. No party shall challenge or assist others to challenge the Bra....
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....) each party shall promptly return to the other party, or destroy and certify the destruction of all Confidential Information as defined in the NDA and Section 7 of this Agreement) of the other party, and (iii) except for a termination pursuant to Section 9.2 or Section 9.3 above. Google will continue to serve advertisements as provided in this Agreement up to the earlier date to occur of (x) the date that the services provided by Google exhaust any amounts prepaid by Distributor, or (y) the date that is thirty (30) days after expiration or termination of the Agreement. Termination or expiration of this Agreement. in part or in whole. shall not limit either party from pursuing other remedies available to it, nor shall Distributor be relieved of its obligation to pay all charges that have accrued or are otherwise owed under this Agreement. Termination of this Agreement does not prevent Distributor from participating in the AdWords Program pursuant to the general terms and conditions made publicly available by Google from time to time in its sole discretion. ***** ***** ***** EXHIBIT C Service Level Agreement Distributor shall be solely responsible....
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....ow, individually referred to as a ''Party'' and collectively referred to as the "Parties". The Parties wish to exchange Confidential Information (as defined below in Section 2) for the following purpose(s): a) to evaluate whether to enter into a contemplated business transaction; and b) if the Parties enter into an agreement related to such business transaction, to fulfill each Party's confidentiality obligations to the extent the terms set forth below are incorporated therein (the ''Purpose''). The Parties have entered into this Agreement to protect the confidentiality of information in accordance with the following terms: 1. The Effective Date of this Agreement is December 12, 2005. 2. In connection with the Purpose, a Party may disclose certain information it considers confidential and/or proprietary ("Confidential Information '') to the other Party including, but not limited to, tangible, intangible, visual, electronic, present, or future information such as: (a) trade secrets; (b) financial information, including pricing; (c) technical information, including research, development, procedures, algorithms, data, desig....
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....9;s prior written approval; or (f) is required to be disclosed by operation of law, court order or other governmental demand ("Process''); provided that (i) the Recipient shall immediately notify the Discloser of such Process; and (ii) the Recipient shall not produce or disclose Confidential Information in response to the Process unless the Discloser has: (a) requested protection from the legal or governmental authority requiring the Process and such request has been denied, (b) consented in writing to the production or disclosure of the Confidential Information in response to the Process, or (c) taken no action to protect its interest in the Confidential Information within 14 business days after receipt of notice from the Recipient of its obligation to produce or disclose confidential information in response to the Process ***** ***** ******* 11. No Party acquires any intellectual property rights under II Agreement (including, but not limited to, patent, copyright, and trademark rights) except the limited rights necessary to carry out the Purpose as forth in this Agreement. 12. Each Party acknowledges that damages for improper disclosure Confiden....
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.... as posted. During those 72 hours, Google is only liable to Customer for keywords or settings discrepancies if Customer can certify to Google by its contemporaneous documental (evidence that Google posted keywords or settings other than those requested by Customer. The account (as modified by Customer, or if unmodified, as initially posted) will be deemed approved by Customer 72 hours after it initially posts. Terms of Payment. If Google, at any time, deems itself insecure with respect to Customer's ability to meet its financial obligations under this SA, Google shall have the right to require pre-payment of the total amount due for the SA in advance of the Target Start Date or as otherwise requested by Google. Customer must remit all payments under this SA to Google by the due date indicated on the Invoice(s). In the event of nonpayment, Google reserves the right to immediately terminate this SA upon written notice to Customer and immediately suspend the entire Customer account. Late payments are subject to interest payments as set forth in the Terms and Conditions. Methods of Billing: Monthly Invoicing: Customer will be billed at the end of....
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....;s online management of any advertising campaigns ("Online Management") and/or any insertion orders ("IO" executed by and between the parties (together the "Agreement"). Google and Customer hereby agree and acknowledge: 1. Policies. Program use is subject to all applicable Google and Partner ad specification requirements and policies, including without limitation the Editorial Guidelines (adwords google.com/select/guidelines.html) Google Privacy Policy (www.google.com/privacy.html) and Trademark Guidelines www.google.com/permissions/guidelines.html), (collectively, "Policies"). Policies may be modified any time. Customer shall direct only to Google communications regarding Customer ads on Partner Properties. Some Program features are identified as "Beta," "Ad Experiment," or otherwise unsupported ("Beta Features"). To the fullest extent permitted by law, Beta Features are provided "as is" and at Customer's option and risk. Customer shall not disclose to any third party any information from Beta Features, existence of non-public Beta Features or access to Beta Features. Google may, at its sole discretion and without any prior consent from the Customer, modify a....
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....rtising may be subject to Google's ability to re-schedule reserved inventory or cancel advertisements already in production. Cancelled advertisements may be published despite cancellation if cancellation of those ads occurs after any applicable commitment date as set forth in advance by the Partner or Google in which case Customer must pay for those ads. Google may cancel immediately any 10, any of its advertising Programs, or these Terms at any time with notice, in which case Customer will be responsible for any ads already run. Google may modify any of its advertising Programs at any time without liability. Sections I, 2, 3,5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 will survive any expiration or termination of this Agreement. 4. Prohibited Uses; License Grant; Representations and Warranties. Customer shall not, and shall not authorize any party to: (a) generate automated, fraudulent or otherwise invalid impressions, inquiries, conversions, clicks or other actions; (b) use any automated means or form of scraping or data extraction to access, query or otherwise collect Google advertising related information from any Adwords website or property except as expressly permitted by Google; or (c) a....
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....ORRUPTION OF DATA OR FOR ANY LOSS OR INTERRUPTION TO CUSTOMER'S BUSINESS) WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE) OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES AND NOTWITHSTANDING ANY FAILURE OF ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF ANY LIMITED REMEDY; AND (b) EACH PARTY'S AGGREGATE LIABILITY TO THE OTHER IS LIMITED TO AMOUNTS PAID OR PAYABLE TO GOOGLE BY CUSTOMER FOR THE AD GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM. Except for payment obligations, neither party is liable for failure or delay resulting from a condition beyond the reasonable control of the party, including but not limited to acts of God, government, terrorism, natural disaster, labor conditions and power failures. 6. Agency. Customer represents and warrants that (a) it is authorized to act on behalf of and has bound to this Agreement any third party for which Customer advertises (a "Principal'') (b) as between Principals and Customer, the Principal owns any rights to Program information in connection with those advertisements, and (c) Customer shall not disclose Principal's Program information to any other party without Principal's consent. 7. Payment Customer shall b....
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....t any Liabilities or losses arising out of any claim based on any act or allegation of infringement of intellectual property, misrepresentation or defamation. 9. Arbitration. The parties agree that they will try in good faith to settle within thirty (30) days any dispute, controversy or claim arising out of relating to or in connection with this Agreement ("Dispute''). If the Dispute is not resolved within thirty (30) days after such Dispute arose, such Dispute must be referred to and finally resolved by arbitration, to which the Parties hereto expressly agree and submit. The arbitration will be submitted to the International Centre for Dispute Resolution of the American Arbitration Association ("AAA") and conducted in accordance with the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the AAA in force as of the date of this Agreement ("Rules''). Pre-hearing information exchange shall be limited to the reasonable production of relevant, non-privileged documents and carried out expeditiously. There will be one arbitrator selected by mutual agreement of the Parties. The arbitrator will not act as amiable compositeur or ex aequo et bono. It is the intent of the parties that, ....
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..... reference to a purchase order number) or oral discussions are void. Each party shall not disclose the terms or conditions of these Terms to any third party, except to its professional advisors under a strict duty of confidentiality or as necessary to comply with a government law, rule or regulation. Customer may grant approvals, permissions, extensions and consents by email, but any modifications by Customer to the Agreement must be made in a writing executed by both parties. Any notices to Google must be sent to Google India Pvt. Ltd., No.3, RMZ Infinity - Tower E, Old Madras Road, 4th Floor, Bangalore, 560016, India with a copy to Legal Department, via confirmed facsimile, with a copy sent via first class or air mail or overnight courier, and are deemed given upon receipt. Notice to Customer may be effected by sending email to the email address specified in Customer's account, or by posting a message to Customer's account interface, and is deemed received when sent (for email) or no more than 15 days after having been posted (for messages in Customer's account interface). A waiver of any default is not a waiver of any subsequent default. Unenforceable provisions wil....
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.... Taxation and for the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income And Capital Gains, "India-Ireland DTAA". Article 12 of the aforesaid treaty defining "royalties" would alone be relevant to determine taxability under the DTAA, as it is more beneficial to the assessee as compared to section 9(1)(vi) of the Income-tax Act, as construed by the High Court. Here again, section 90(2) of the Income-tax Act, read with explanation 4 thereof has not been properly appreciated." 22. Thus, the definition of the term "royalty" in Article 12(3) of the India - Ireland DT AA override the definition of "royalty" as provided in Explanation 2 to section 9(l)(vi) of the Act by virtue of section 90(2). Therefore, the definition of the term "royalty" under the India - Ireland DTAA being more beneficial to the assessee must only be considered in these appeals. The findings of the AO and CIT(A) as regards the characterisation of the payments to Google Ireland as 'Royalty' under section 9(l)(vi) of the Act is therefore not relevant and consequently correctness of these findings need not be adjudicated in these appeals. Similarly, we do not think it is necessary to decide wh....
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....t. However, the question for our consideration is whether the copyright in "Google AdWords Program" is used by the assessee or not? In order to attract definition of 'Royalty', there has to be use or right to use, inter alia, any copyright. The issue as to whether usage of computer software tantamounts to royalty, is now resolved by the Supreme Court decision in the case of Engineering Analysis Centre of Excellence Private Limited (supra). The Supreme Court grouped the various appeals on the aspect of royalty issue on software payments into four categories as under:- Category 1: Computer software purchased by an end-user, resident in India, from a foreign non-resident supplier/manufacturer. Category 2: Purchase of computer software by resident Indian companies that act as distributors/resellers, from foreign nonresident suppliers for the purpose reselling the same to resident Indian users. Category 3: Purchase of software by foreign non-resident distributor from a foreign non-resident supplier for the purpose of reselling the same to Indian distributors or end-users. Category 4: Computer software affixed onto a hardware and sold as an int....
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....e between the position under the DTAA and Explanation 2 to section 9(1)(vi) of the Income-tax Act. ***** ******** ****** ........... 97. When, under a non-exclusive licence, an end-user gets the right to use computer software in the form of a CD, the end-user only receives a right to use the software and nothing more. The end-user does not get any of the rights that the owner continues to retain under section 14(b) of the Copyright Act read with sub-section (a)(i)-(vii) thereof Thus, the conclusion that when computer software is licensed for use under an EULA, what is also licensed is the right to use the copyright embedded therein, is wholly incorrect. The licence for the use of a product under an EULA cannot be construed as the licence spoken of in section 30 of the Copyright Act, as such EULA only imposes restrictive conditions upon the end-user and does not part with any interest relatable to any rights mentioned in sections 14(a) and 14(b) of the Copyright Act. **** ******** ****** 100. Also, any ruling on the more expansive language contained in the explanations to section 9(1)(vi) of the Income-tax Act would have to be ignored if it is wid....
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.... the material substance does not, of itself, serve to transfer the copyright therein. The transfer of the ownership of the physical substance, in which copyright subsists, gives the purchaser the right to do with it whatever he pleases, except the right to reproduce the same and issue it to the public, unless such copies are already in circulation, and the other acts mentioned in section 14 of the Copyright Act. (iv) A licence from a copyright owner, conferring no proprietary interest on the licensee, does not entail parting with any copyright, and is different from a licence issued under section 30 of the Copyright Act, which is a licence which grants the licensee an interest in the rights mentioned in section 14(a) and 14(b) of the Copyright Act. Where the core of a transaction is to authorize the end-user to have access to and make use of the "licensed" computer software product over which the licensee has no exclusive rights, no copyright is parted with and consequently, no infringement takes place, as is recognized by section 52(l)(aa) of the Copyright Act. It makes no difference whether the end-user is enabled to use computer software that is customised to its specif....
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....all be solely responsible for providing all customer services to Advertisers, according to the procedures, and in compliance with standards, provided by Google. All Advertisers shall be instructed by Distributor to contact Distributor directly for support, and not to communicate directly with Google Ireland. Distributor agrees that it shall provide minimum levels of service like Business hours phone support to all Advertisers, E-mail queries from Advertisers shall be responded to within one (l) business day with immediate resolution of any issues when possible. It was decided that the issues that cannot immediately be resolved by Distributor based on training and procedures provided under the Agreement must be communicated promptly to Google Ireland by Distributor / assessee, and Google Ireland will assist assessee / Distributor in determining the best solution. It was also agreed that the distributor agrees that Google Ireland will have the right, to review samples of communications sent to Advertisers to assess the quality of responses and modify communications accordingly. Google Ireland shall also have the right to send questionnaires to Distributor's customers to ensure th....
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....d by the Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Engineering Analysis Centre of Excellence Private Limited v. CIT & Anr. (supra), mere use of or right to use a computer program without any transfer of underlying copyright in it as per section 14(a)/(b) or section 30 of the Copyright Act, 1957 will not be satisfying the definition of Royalty under the Act / DTAA. Similarly, use of confidential information, software technology, training documents and others are all 'literary work' with copyrights in it owned by the foreign entity and there was no transfer or license of copyrights in favour of the assessee company. Hence, the impugned payments cannot be characterised as 'Royalty' under the DTAA. 31. The lower authorities have held that the assessee has been granted the use of or right to use trademarks, other brand features and the process owned by Google Ireland for the purpose of distribution of Adwords program and consequently the sums payable to Google Ireland are royalty. As per Article 12 of India - Ireland DTAA, consideration for the use of or right to use any patent, trade mark, design or model, plan, secret formula or process is regarded as royalty. In the ....
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....see company. The CIT(A) was not in agreement with the AO on the above issue without prejudice to his view in holding that the remitted amount is royalty on different grounds. The revenue has not challenged the said finding of CIT(A). Hence, the impugned payments cannot be regarded as made for 'use of or right to use industrial, commercial or scientific equipment'. The remaining portion of definition of 'Royalty' under the India - Ireland DT AA is consideration for information concerning industrial, commercial or scientific experience. The AO has not characterised the impugned payments as a consideration for the above. In any case, CIT(A) has given a finding that it cannot be said that any kind of technical knowhow has been transferred to the assessee company. This has not been challenged by the revenue. 33. Thus on an overall analysis of the entire facts on record, we hold that the impugned payments cannot be regarded as royalty under the India - Ireland DTAA. It is true that the Google Adword program was commercially and profitably exploited in a commercial sense and profitable manner in India to generate revenues from Indian customers or advertisers. This....
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....tion 40(a)(i) of the Act, on the premise that the said payments were taxable in India. While the AO held the said payments to be fees for technical services ("FTS"), the CIT(A) held them to be royalty. The Tribunal relied on the decision in Yahoo (supra) to delete the disallowance. It was also observed by the Tribunal that the said payments were business profits, which were not taxable in India, since GIL did not have a PE in India. (iii) Right Florists (supra): Right Florist was a florist who used Google Search Engine for online advertising, to generate more business for itself. In this case again, the AO had disallowed the payments made by Right Florist for online advertising under section 40(a)(i) of the Act. However, the CIT(A) reversed the said decision on the ground that none of the recipients of the payments had a PE in India. The Tribunal, in Department's appeal, upheld the order of the CIT(A), while observing that the decisions in Yahoo (supra) and Pinstorm (supra) were authorities in support of the proposition that payment by the Indian arm of a foreign owner of search engine portal, in connection with online advertising, is not in the nature of royalty as per se....
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....eland Ltd. did not have a PE in India. In that manner, the Tribunal set aside the order of the CIT(A) and held the payments in question to be neither royalty, nor FTS. (viii) Matrimony.com (supra): Matrimony.com in this case, made payments to Facebook Ireland Ltd. for online advertising. The AO in this case as well, disallowed the said payments under section 40(a)(i) of the Act, which action was upheld by the CIT(A). The Tribunal followed the decision in Urban Ladder (supra), while deleting the said disallowance. (ix) ESPN Digital Media (supra): ESPN India in this case, entered into a re-seller agreement with ESPN UK, for the resale of online advertisement space. In terms thereof, ESPN India purchased online advertisement space for re-sale to Indian advertisers. For this purchase, it made payments to ESPN UK, which were characterised as royalty by the AO. The CIT(A) upheld the order of the AO. The Tribunal, in second appeal, set aside the order of the CIT(A), while observing that ESPN India was merely making payment under the re-seller agreement towards purchase of online advertisement space. It was also observed that a website is not a tangible property and is ce....
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....ew taken by TAG and recommended taxing consideration flowing for online advertisement under Article 7, and not Article 12 of the relevant DTAA. 37. Therefore, in terms of the international guidance as stated herein, the position regarding taxability of receipts from sale of online advertisement space is clear. Unless the non-resident, who is engaged in sale of online advertisement space, has a PE in India, no portion of receipts earned by it from sale of online advertisement space in India can be brought to tax in India as Act read with the relevant DTAA. 38. The above view is also supported by insertion of provisions related to Equalisation Levy (EL) by Finance Act, 2016. The root for the emergence of the EL can be traced to the dynamic business models that have the ability to transcend the link between an income producing activity and a specific location since these business are carried in the cyber place. The PE definition presently is based upon the physical presence criteria. The new business models also created challenges in characterizing the nature of payment - whether the payment is for services or for any IPR and hence royalty or whether it represents pu....
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....eration from Department of Tourism of India and after retaining its margin, the balance was remitted to Yahoo Hong Kong. The payment remitted by Yahoo India to Yahoo Hong Kong was the subject matter of dispute before the Tribunal. The AO as well as CIT(A) held such payments to be royalty and in that manner, disallowed the expenditure in the hands of Yahoo India under section 40(a) of the Act. The Tribunal, in second appeal, held that banner advertisement hosting services did not involve use or right to use any industrial, commercial, or scientific equipment and no such use was granted by Yahoo Hong Kong. In that manner, the Tribunal set aside the findings of the AO and CIT(A), wherein the subject payments were characterised as royalty. (ii) Pinstorm (supra): Pinstorm was engaged in buying online advertisement space for onward re-sale to an advertiser, much like GIPL in the present case. For such purpose, Pinstorm made payments to GIL, which were disallowed by the AO and CIT(A) under section 40(a)(i) of the Act, on the premise that the said payments were taxable in India. While the AO held the said payments to be fees for technical services ("FTS"), the CIT(A) held them to ....
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....ble Tribunal also relied on the decisions in Yahoo (supra), Pinstorm (supra) and Right Florists (supra). (vi) Myntra Designs (supra): Myntra in this case, made payments to Facebook Ireland Ltd., for online advertising. The AO held the said payments to be royalty and in the alternate, as FTS. The CIT(A) upheld the order of the AO. The Tribunal followed the decision in Urban Ladder (supra), while setting aside the order of the CIT(A). (vii) Play Games (supra): Play games is engaged in the business of providing a platform for online gaming. It had made payments to Facebook Ireland Ltd. for online advertising. The AO and CIT(A) in this case as well, held that payments to be taxable in India. The Hon'ble Tribunal observed that Play Games did not get any right to modify/ deal with the servers, which belonged to Facebook Ireland Ltd., in any manner. It was also observed inter alia that the said servers, which hosted online advertisements, were located outside India and that Facebook Ireland Ltd. did not have a PE in India. In that manner, the Tribunal set aside the order of the CIT(A) and held the payments in question to be neither royalty, nor FTS. (viii) Matri....