COCHIN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT LIMITED,COCHIN vs. DCIT CORPORATE CIRCLE 1(1), COCHIN

ITA 724/COCH/2023Status: DisposedITAT Cochin23 September 2025AY 2009-10Bench: SHRI INTURI RAMA RAO (Accountant Member), SHRI SOUNDARARAJAN K. (Judicial Member)1 pages
AI SummaryAllowed

What did the Tribunal hold?

The Tribunal held that the agreement with M/s. Alpha Airport Holding Ltd., UK was solely for procurement of merchandise and did not involve the transfer of any technical knowledge or services. Therefore, the payments made cannot be classified as 'fees for technical services' under the Act or the relevant Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA). The conditions for attracting Article 13 of the India-UK DTAA were not met as there was no transfer of technical knowledge or expertise that the assessee could use independently.

What were the facts?

The assessee, M/s. Cochin International Airport Ltd., entered into an agreement with M/s. Alpha Airport Holding Ltd., UK for procuring merchandise for its duty-free shop. The Assessing Officer (AO) initiated proceedings under section 201 for not deducting TDS on payments made to the non-resident, citing business connection and treating payments as 'fees for technical services' (FTS) under section 9(1)(vii) of the Income Tax Act and the India-UK DTAA. The Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) upheld the AO's view.

What were the issues?

Whether the payments made to M/s. Alpha Airport Holding Ltd., UK for procurement of merchandise for the duty-free shop are taxable in India as 'fees for technical services' under Section 9(1)(vii) of the Income Tax Act and the India-UK DTAA, especially when no technical knowledge was made available to the assessee.

Which sections of the Income-tax Act were involved?

Section 9(1)(i),Section 9(1)(vii),Section 195,Section 201

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Cases cited in this judgment(5)Show list

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Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, COCHIN BENCH : COCHIN

Before: SHRI INTURI RAMA RAO & SHRI SOUNDARARAJAN K.

For Appellant: Shri Gopi K, CA
For Respondent: Shri Omanakuttan, Snr. AR

PER SOUNDARARAJAN K., JUDICIAL MEMBER

These are the appeals filed by the assessee challenging the separate orders of the Ld.CIT(A)-12, Bengaluru all dated 23/08/2023 in respect of the A.Ys. 2005-06 to 2009-10. ITA Nos. 720 to 724/Coch/2023

2.

All these appeals are related to the same assessee and the issue involved in all the appeals are similar and therefore we decided to take up all the appeals together and pass a common order for the sake of convenience.

3.

We will take up the appeal in ITA No. 720/Coch/2023 for A.Y. 2005- 06 as the lead case and the result arrived in the s

The order continues below.

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