The assessee, a resident Indian company engaged in manufacturing ...

Freight charges paid to foreign shipping co. not taxable royalty or chargeable income; disallowance denied.

Case Laws     Income Tax

November 21, 2024

The assessee, a resident Indian company engaged in manufacturing boiler pressure parts and engineering plants, paid ocean freight charges to a non-resident Korean logistics company, Hyupjin Shipping Co. Ltd. (HSC), for availing logistics services. The Assessing Officer treated the freight charges as royalty u/s 9(1)(vi) and made disallowances u/s 40(a)(i) for non-deduction of tax at source. The key points are: The freight charges were not royalty as the services did not confer any right to use industrial, commercial or scientific equipment. HSC did not have a permanent establishment or business connection in India, and its profits from logistics services were taxable only in Korea under Article 7 of the India-Korea tax treaty. Section 195 mandates tax deduction only on chargeable income paid to non-residents. Since HSC's income was not chargeable in India, no tax was required to be deducted. The disallowance u/s 40(a)(i) was devoid of merits and decided against the revenue.

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