Treaty between India and Singapore – Indian ruling that referral fees treated as business profits, not royalty or technical service fees

The Indian Authority for Advance Rulings (AAR) delivered a ruling dated 4 July 2008 in the case of Cushman & Wakefield (S) Pvt. Ltd. (2008-TIOL-08-AAR) on whether referral fees paid to an overseas group company for referring potential clients to an Indian group company was taxable in India either as royalty or as fees for technical services (FTS).

(a) Facts. The Applicant (i.e. Cushman & Wakefield (S) Pvt. Ltd.) was a Singapore-based company dealing in a full range …