Vedanta Ltd. v. ACIT (2020) 84 ITR 84 (Delhi)(Trib.)

S. 92C : Transfer pricing-Arm’s length price-Mere filing sample bill is not sufficient-Burden is on assessee to prove service rendered-Matter remanded-Acting as facilitator and reimbursements were pass-through costs-No adjustment to be made-Dispute Resolution panel-Bound to follow the order of Appellate Tribunal, though the appeal was preferred to High Court. [S. 144C, 254(1)]

Tribunal held that the assessee was incurring these expenses by acting as a facilitator and these reimbursements were pass-through costs. Such transactions could not be compared with information technology enabled services. No mark-up was warranted on pass-through costs as these were reimbursement of primary third party expenses initially incurred by the assessee for which no value addition was done by the assessee and were subsequently reimbursed by the associated enterprises on cost-to-cost basis. Moreover, such transactions are undertaken for commercial expediency and are not intended to be undertaken with expectation of return. Considering the nature of the expenses in totality, in the light of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development guidelines, this adjustment made by the Transfer Pricing Officer was to be deleted. (AY. 2014-15)