Held that the transactional net margin method had been followed for determining the adjustments, if any, under section 92CA of the Act for the assessment years 2009-10 to 2014-15. Thus, the transactional net margin method, which had been followed earlier, could not have been rejected by the Transfer Pricing Officer without any substantial reason. There was no infirmity in the decision of the Tribunal in holding that the Transfer Pricing Officer had discarded the method consistently followed in the past six assessment years without sufficient reason. That the Transfer Pricing Officer had not provided any reasons for not following the transactional net margin method. The Transfer Pricing Officer had considered the documentation furnished by the assessee and had highlighted that “it operates as a commission agent and does not act as a ‘buy-sell organization ‘”. The Transfer Pricing Officer had further found that the assessee had applied a trading filter to identify companies having at least 50 per cent. of its revenue from trading operations, which, according to the Transfer Pricing Officer, was flawed. These were not grounds for rejecting the transactional net margin method. Although the Transfer Pricing Officer had found a flaw in the transfer pricing documentation submitted by the assessee on account of selecting comparables which the Transfer Pricing Officer found were not apposite, the Transfer Pricing Officer had provided no reasons whatsoever for rejecting the transactional net margin method as the most appropriate method. The Transfer Pricing Officer had also not discussed the applicability of any other methods. The order of the Tribunal was affirmed. (AY. 2016-17)
PCIT v. SABIC India Pvt Ltd.(2026) 485 ITR 743 (Delhi)(HC)
S. 92C : Transfer pricing-Arm’s length price-Avoidance of tax-International transaction-Most appropriate method “Any other method” Recourse only if none of other methods considered most appropriate method-Transfer Pricing Officer not recording reasons for not following transactional net margin method-Nor discussing applicability of any other method-Not justified in adopting residual method-Res judicata not applicable-But principle of consistency important.[S.92CA,260A, R. 10AB 10AB(1)(f)]
Leave a Reply