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2015 (4) TMI 905

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..... of the assessee had worked both for the assessee as well as its Indian subsidiary. The employees also had the right to enter the office of the Indian subsidiary either for the purpose of working for Indian subsidiary or for the purpose of working for the assessee and the Indian subsidiary provided perquisite to the employees of the assessee and the assessee paid salaries to the employees, on these facts the Indian subsidiary was considered as place of business. However, facts of the case in hand clearly show that the employees of the SRSIPL has only provided services to SRSIPL and there is no noting on record to prove that the employees had provided services to the assessee or the assessee is paying their salaries or perquisites. The decision of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Morgan Stanley [2007 (7) TMI 201 - SUPREME Court] has been duly considered by the Hon’ble Delhi High Court in the case of E-Funds IT Solutions (supra). To sum up, the assessee does not have any business connection in India in the light of Explanation-2 to section 9(1) of the Act. The assessee does not have any PE in India. The facts on record show that there is neither Service PE nor Agency PE in .....

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..... nd wholly owned subsidiary of the assessee is a PE of the assessee in India. The AO further noticed that the assessee through its Singapore Branch has entered into service agreement since 01/04/2009 with SRSIPL for obtaining risk assessment services, market insurance and administrative support in India and in turn remunerate/compensate SRSIPL on a cost + 12% margin. The AO was of the opinion that since the assessee has remunerated SRSIPL and all its employees on a cost + basis, it is clear that the personnel and staff have rendered services to the assessee as de-facto employees. The AO was of the firm belief that the Indian subsidiary SRSIPL provides technical and core reinsurance services, therefore, Dependent Agency Permanent Establishment (DAPE) comes into play. The AO further noted that as per the domestic Income Tax Act, 1961, since the income of the assessee is being earned from India on a regular and continuous basis, the income of the assessee is taxable in India in terms of section 9(1)(i) of the Act. The assessee has regular flow of income emanating from India, hence, the assessee has clear cut business connection in India. 2.2 The AO gave the assessee an opportunity t .....

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..... urer and the reinsurer, whereby a part of the risk gets transferred from one party to another. The party accepting the risk is termed as the reinsurer and the party transferring the risk is termed as the reinsured/reassured or cedant. ii. The income of the assessee is being earned from India on a regular and continuous basis. In view of this, the income of the assessee is taxable in India in terms of Sec. 9(1)(i) of the Indian income Tax Act, 1961 i.e. the Domestic Income Tax Act. iii. The assessee is having regular flow of income emanating from India under the domestic Act; hence the assessee has a clear-cut business connection in India. The arguments of the assessee on this account are flawed. 2.5 The AO further proceeded by treating SRSIPL as a PE of the assessee in India. The AO treated SRSIPL not only as a service PE of the assessee but also as agency PE/ DAPE. Having held all that the AO went on to attribute the taxable profit and calculated the attribution at 50% of income and completed the assessment. 2.6 Strong objections were raised before the DRP but without any success. Aggrieved by this the assessee is before us. 3. Ld. Counsel for the assessee vehementl .....

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..... n Singapore Branch of the assessee and Swiss Re-services India Pvt. Ltd. i.e. SRSIPL. 1.1.3 Forwarding routine communication from the Branch of SRZ to the Clients (other than contracts of re-insurance and confirmation of liability) after translating in local language, where required. 1.6 The Company hereby acknowledges and confirms that it is not the agent, broker or legal representative of the Branch of SRZ for any purposes whatsoever, and agrees that at no time shall it represent itself to be the agent or broker of the Branch of SRZ in India. The Company agrees to indemnify and hold the Branch of SRZ harmless with respect to any breach of this Section by the Company. 5.6 Company will remain for all purposes an independent contractor under this Agreement. Nothing in this Agreement will be deemed to constitute or will be construed as constituting a partnership, joint venture or principal-agency relationship between the Company and the Branch of SRZ. All Company personnel will be considered solely Company employees or gents, and Company will be responsible for (i) compliance with all Laws relating to such personnel and (ii) payment of all wages, Taxes and other cost and ex .....

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..... ed by the principal non-resident or have a controlling interest in the principal non-resident or are subject to the same common control as the principal non-resident, he shall not be deemed to be a broker, general commission agent or an agent of an independent status. 5.2 A perusal of the facts of the case in hand go to show that none of the conditions specified in clause (a)(b) (c) above are satisfied. Therefore, it cannot be said that the assessee is having any business connection in India. Now let us see whether the assessee has any PE within the purview of Article-5 of India Swiss Treaty, wherein is provided as under: (l) the furnishing of technical services, other than services as defined in Article 12, within a Contracting State by an enterprise through employees or toher personnel, but only if:- (i) activities of that nature continue within that State for a period or periods aggregating more than 90 days within any twelve month period; or (ii) the services are performed within that State for a related enterprise (within the meaning of paragraph 1 of Article 9) for a period or periods aggregating more than 30 days within any twelve -month period. 5.3 Assum .....

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..... not support the Revenue on the facts of the present case, like in the case of Delhi Bench of the Tribunal in the case of Motorola Inc. (supra, the facts were that the employees of the assessee had worked both for the assessee as well as its Indian subsidiary. The employees also had the right to enter the office of the Indian subsidiary either for the purpose of working for Indian subsidiary or for the purpose of working for the assessee and the Indian subsidiary provided perquisite to the employees of the assessee and the assessee paid salaries to the employees, on these facts the Indian subsidiary was considered as place of business. However, facts of the case in hand clearly show that the employees of the SRSIPL has only provided services to SRSIPL and there is no noting on record to prove that the employees had provided services to the assessee or the assessee is paying their salaries or perquisites. The decision of the Hon ble Supreme Court in the case of Morgan Stanley (supra) has been duly considered by the Hon ble Delhi High Court in the case of E-Funds IT Solutions (supra). The decision in the case of Jebon Corporation of Indi(supra) is not at all relevant on the facts of .....

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