Tribunal rules that fees for credit ratings services taxable as "royalty"

The Indian Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) delivered a ruling dated 10 June 2005 in the case of Essar Oil Ltd. v Joint Commissioner of Income Tax (unreported) on whether credit rating fees paid to an Australian entity were liable to income tax in India as "royalties" under the India-Australia tax treaty (tax treaty).

(a) Facts. Essar Oil Ltd. (Essar Oil) made an application to the tax authorities for authorization to remit an annual surv…