Non-resident advisory consultancy fees under India-UAE treaty: treated as professional services, not taxable without PE

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....Whether advisory consultancy receipts of a non-resident individual were taxable in India under domestic law despite treaty protection turned on the characterisation of services and the DTAA override. The tax authority treated the engagement as structured to avoid salary taxation and invoked "significant economic presence" to deem business income accruing in India on crossing the prescribed revenue threshold. It was held that the services fell within the inclusive definition of "professional services" under Article 14 of the India-UAE DTAA; consequently, applying section 90(2), the income was not taxable in India in the absence of a permanent establishment, and the taxpayer's grounds were allowed. - ITAT....