TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2024 (12) TMI 110
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.... 1:That on the facts and in the circumstances of the case and in law, the final assessment order passed by the Learned Assessing Officer ('Ld. AO'), pursuant to the directions of the Honourable Dispute Resolution Panel ('Hon'ble Panel') is based upon conjectures, surmises, preconceived notions, and incorrect application of law, is devoid of any merits and is hence, bad in law and void ab initio. Ground No.2: That on the facts and in the circumstances of the case and in law, the Ld. AO has erred in assuming jurisdiction and thereby passing an assessment under Section 144 read with Section 144C(13) and Section 148 of the Act. Ground No. 3:That on the facts and in the circumstances of the case & in law, the Ld. AO has grossly erred in computing the taxable income of INR 24,80,77,042 as against the nil income reported by the appellant in its Return of Income ('ROI') filed for the subject AY. Ground No.4:That on the facts and in the circumstances of the case & in law, the Hon'ble Panel has grossly erred in confirming the action of the Ld. AO in proposing an addition of INR 24,80,77,042 from receipt of subscription fees by erroneously treating it as ....
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....bility of tax @ 40% and initiation of penalty proceedings under the Act. Grounds numbered 1 and 3, being general in nature, do not require specific adjudication. Ground No. 7 and 8 being consequential also stand dismissed. Ground No. 9 is in respect of initiation of penalty proceedings, which is premature; hence, it is dismissed. Ground No. 4 to 6 are being adjudicated here as these involve the core issue that whether subscription fees received by appellant for publishing books, journals, articles in relation to various aspects such as legal, banking, risk management etc. and providing on line analytical tools to access the same is Fees for Technical Services (hereinafter, the 'FTS') and or royalty under the Act as well as under Article 13 of the India-UK DTAA. 3. The relevant facts giving rise to these appeals are that the appellant/assessee, incorporated in the United Kingdom (hereinafter 'UK'), is a tax resident of UK within the meaning of Article 4 of the India-UK DTAA. The appellant/assessee has not had any Permanent Establishment (hereinafter, the 'PE') in India. The appellant/assessee is engaged in the business of publishing books, journals, articles in relation to various ....
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....with article 7 of India-UK DTAA. Further, he contended that such receipts would not qualify as a FTS under section 9(1)(vii) of the Act as these were not in the nature of fee for technical services. In support of the said argument, the Ld. AR placed reliance on the decision of the Hon'ble Delhi High Court in the case of RELX INC, ITA No. 630/2023 order dated 07.02.2024. It was categorically submitted that the RELX INC, a group entity of the appellant/assessee and was also engaged in the similar business and therefore, the appellant/assessee's case got squarely covered by the decision of the Jurisdictional High Court in the case of RELX INC (supra). He prayed for relief following the judicial precedent. A copy of the Tax Residency Certificate (hereinafter, the 'TRC') issued by the UK Tax Authority bearing the erstwhile name of the assessee is filed not only during the assessment proceedings but before also. 4.1 The Ld. AR drew our attention on the finding of the Hon'ble Delhi High Court in the case of RELX INC. The relevant portion of the said decision is reproduced hereunder: "10. It must at the outset be noted that Section 9(1)(vii) of the Act could have been resorted to, provi....
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....d by the Supreme Court in Engineering Analysis Centre for Excellence Vs. CIT (2022) 3 SCC 321 when it observed- ................................................... 14. The distinction between the right of access to copyrighted content as opposed to parting with the copyright itself was again explained by our Court in CIT Vs. Microsoft Corporation10 where the following pertinent observations were made:- ................................................. 15. Similarly, in order for that income to fall within the ambit of fees for included services', it was imperative for the Department to establish that the assessee was rendering technical or consultancy services and which included making available technical knowledge, experience, skill, know-how or processes. As has been found by the Tribunal, the access to the database did not constitute the rendering of any technical or consultancy services and in any case did not amount to technical knowledge, experience, skill, know-how or processes being made available. 16. We note that while explaining the meaning liable to be ascribed to the expression make available', the Court in Commissioner of Income Tax (International Ta....