2017 (2) TMI 993 - SUPREME COURT

Income from the use of Global Telecommunication Facility called 'Maersk Net' - whether can be classified as income arising out of shipping business and not as fees for technical services? - Held that:- Revenue itself has given the benefit of Indo-Danish DTAA to the assessee by accepting that under Article 9 thereof, freight income generated by the assessee in these Assessment Years is not chargeable to tax as it arises from the operation of ships in international waters. Once that is accepted and it is also found that the Maersk Net System is an integral part of the shipping business and the business cannot be conducted without the same, which was allowed to be used by the agents of the assessee as well in order to enable them to discharge their role more effectively as agents, it is only a facility that was allowed to be shared by the agents. By no stretch of imagination it can be treated as any technical services provided to the agents. In such a situation, 'profit' from operation of ships under Article 19 of DTAA would necessarily include expenses for earning that income and cannot be separated, more so, when it is found that the business cannot be run without these expenses. This Court in Commissioner of Income Tax-4, Mumbai v. Kotak Securities Limited (2016 (3) TMI 1026 - SUPREME COURT ) has categorically held that use of facility does not amount to technical services, as technical services denote services catering to the special needs of the person using them and not a facility provided to all.

Thus High Court is correct in holding that the income from the use of Global Telecommunication Facility called 'Maersk Net' can be classified as income arising out of shipping business and not as fees for technical services