The Indian Authority for Advance Rulings (AAR) delivered a ruling dated 31 July 2008 in the case of Geoconsult ZT GMBH (2008-TIOL-11-ARA-IT) on whether a joint venture (JV) comprising a foreign company and two Indian companies was to be taxed in India as an "Association of Persons" (AOP) in respect of income from a contract (the Contract) with an Indian client.
(a) Facts. The Applicant (i.e. Geoconsult ZT GMBH), which was a company incorporated in Austria, was awarded the Contract b…