Court held that given the definition of royalties contained in Article 12 of the DTAAs mentioned in paragraph 41 of this judgment, it is clear that there is no obligation on the persons mentioned in section 195 of the Income Tax Act to deduct tax at source, as the distribution agreements/EULAs in the facts of these cases do not create any interest or right in such distributors/end-users, which would amount to the use of or right to use any copyright. The provisions contained in the Income -tax Act (section 9(1)(vi), along with explanations 2 and 4 thereof), which deal with royalty, not being more beneficial to the assessees, have no application in the facts of these cases. Our answer to the question posed before us, is that the amounts paid by resident Indian end-users/distributors to non-resident computer software manufacturers/suppliers, as consideration for the resale/use of the computer software through EULAs/distribution agreements, is not the payment of royalty for the use of copyright in the computer software, and that the same does not give rise to any income taxable in India, as a result of which the persons referred to in section 195 of the Income -tax Act were not liable to deduct any TDS under section 195 of the Income Tax Act. The answer to this question will apply to all four categories of cases enumerated by us in paragraph 4 of this judgment. (CANOS . 8733-8734 of 2018 dt. 2-3 -2021 )
Engineering Analysis Centre of Excellence P .Ltd v. CIT ( 2021) 432 ITR 471/199 DTR 361/ 319 CTR 497 / 125 taxmann.com 42 ( SC) www.itatonline .org / Citrix Systems Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd v. DIT CIT ( 2021) 432 ITR 471/199 DTR 361/ 319 CTR 497 / 125 taxmann.com 42 ( SC)/DIT v. Ericsson A.B . ( 2021) 432 ITR 471/199 DTR 361/ 319 CTR 497 / 125 taxmann.com 42 ( SC) www.itatonline .org Editorial: CIT v. Alcatel Lucent Canada ( 2015 ) 372 TR 476 ( Delhi) (HC) affirmed , CIT v. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd ( 2012 ) 345 ITR 494 ( Karn) (HC) CIT v. Sunray Computers P.Ltd ( 2012 ) 348 ITR 196 ( Karn) (HC) , AAR in Citrix Systems Asia Pacific Pty Ltd , Inn re ( 2012 ) 343 ITR 1 (AAR ) reversed .
S. 195 :Deduction at source – Non-resident – Other sums – Amount received for supply of software – Not liable to deduct tax at source
DTAA -India [ Art , 12 , 9 (1)(vi), Art, 12 ]