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2014 (5) TMI 1112 - AT - Income TaxIncome assessed u/s. 172(4) in the hands of the assessee as an agent - income accrued in India - DTAA of India Cyprus - interpretation of 'Effective Management' - Held that:- The authorities below have taxed income in the hands of Shaan as an agent of Glendive. If in their opinion Glendive may be bogus entity interposed in between to take advantage of Cyprus treaty, then it is not the income of Glendive but that of Aquavita. On one side, they are taxing the income in the hands of Glendive and on the other hand, they hold that Glendive is only a paper company. If in their opinion it is the income of Glendive, in that event, it is to be noted that Glendive does not have any establishment outside Cyprus. Accordingly, the income arises to it in Cyprus only. It is not the case of the authorities below that Glendive has any establishment outside Cyprus. According to authorities below, Glendive is just a paper company and has been interposed in the transaction as a charterer. In that event, the income would accrue to Aquavita and not Glendive. This approach of authorities below is not justified. The other reasoning given by authorities below is that the effective management of Glendive cannot be in Cyprus because it has no staff, big office establishment in Cyprus and it is a one person company. He has relied on the OECD commentary which explains the words 'Effective Management'. The Indo Cyprus Treaty defines the words 'Effective Management' in Article 8 itself. While other treaties like the one's with Mauritius, Poland, Netherlands do not define the words 'Effective Management' in the Article 8 thereof. Thus, for interpreting, these treaties, reliance may be placed on the OECD Commentary but so far as the Cyprus Treaty is concerned, there is no reason to rely upon to OECD Commentary because Article 8 itself has defines the term. Hence, in our case, when Article 8 of Cyprus Treaty explains clearly the word 'Effective Management', there is no need to refer to OECD Commentary or other sources for the meaning of these words. In view of the above, the CIT(A) erred in holding that the income of Glendive was taxable u/s 172(4) in the hands of Shaan Marine as an agent and the treaty benefits were not available to Glendive. - Decided in favour of assessee
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