2023 (6) TMI 1124

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.....2019 pertaining to A.Ys 2015-16 and 2016-17. 2. Since common grievances are involved in both the appeals, they were heard together and are disposed of by this common order for the sake of convenience and brevity. 3. The first common grievance in the captioned appeals is that the ld. CIT(A) erred in treating the amount received by the assessee from Inter Continental Hotels Group [Asia Pacific] India Pvt Ltd [IHGAP] towards provision of Management Support Services to be in the nature of Fees for Technical Services [FTS] under Article 12 of the India - Singapore DTAA. 4. At the very outset, the ld. counsel for the assessee stated that the impugned quarrel has been decided by this Tribunal in favour of the assessee and against the Rev....

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....6 and 2016-17, an amount of Rs. 11,93,91,259/- and Rs. 11,52,73,999/- accrued to the assessee from a group company in India, namely InterContinental Hotels Group (India) Private Limited ('IHG India'), on account of Management Support Costs. IHG India is engaged primarily in the business of providing Management and Operations services to various Hotels in India. Based on the nature of services enumerated under the service agreement entered with IHG India, the Appellant is providing services in the nature of operational support, accounting and legal support, and information technology support related services, etc. The said amounts were claimed as exempt in the return of income filed in respective years, as the same was not in the nature of F....

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....ndards, maintaining the qualification available with regard to the international hotel business and its management techniques and coordinating the managerial plan and actions, advising local general CMH Hotel management on trends and changes in the hotel business in general and provide advice on the production of operating and capital budgets at the level of CMH hotels, which are consistent with the strategic plan can at best be the managerial consultancy service but not the services made available so that the recipient can use or replicate such service received from the assessee.... 32. Similarly, the services rendered in connection with training & recruitment and manpower specification, we find that there is neither technology tr....

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.... agreements for user of brand name and for Management Support Services are independent of each other, hence, not connected or dependent upon each other. It is also relevant to observe, while the license agreements for user of brand name are with various third party hotels in India, the agreement for provision of Management Support Services is with the Indian subsidiary. Therefore, it cannot be said that the amount received from provision of Management Support Services is ancillary and subsidiary to the license agreement. It is further relevant to observe, in the year under consideration, the assessee had received more income from provision of Management Support Services than royalty. In that sense also, Management Support Services cannot be....