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Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, “C”, BENCH KOLKATA
Before: SHRI N.V.VASUDEVAN, JM & DR. A.L.SAINI, AM
आदेश / O R D E R
Per Dr. Arjun Lal Saini, AM: The captioned appeal filed by the Revenue and the Cross Objections filed by the Assessee, pertaining to assessment year 2005-2006, are directed against the order passed by the ld. Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals)-XII, Kolkata, in Appeal No.1033/XII/Cir-11/09-10, dated 27.05.2010, which in turn arises out of an assessment order passed by the Assessing Officer (AO) Under Section 143 (3) of the Income Tax Act 1961, (hereinafter referred to the ‘Act’), dated 17.12.2008. 2. The Appeal filed by the Revenue and Cross Objection filed by the Assessee relate to the same assessee, same assessment year, common issues
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involved, therefore, these have been clubbed and heard together and a
consolidated order is being passed for the sake of convenience and brevity.
Brief facts of the assessee company of M/s Development Consultants Private
Limited ( hereinafter referred to as ‘DCPL’), are that the assessee is a closely
held private limited company and parent company of the Development
consultants (DC) group. The DCPL has subsidiaries in the Bahamas and United
States of America ( New York and Philadelphia). Moreover, the DCPL has a
100% subsidiary in India- Data Core (India) Private Limited. The DCPL is the
focal point for all design engineering activities. It directly executes all domestic
projects and Group operations assigned to it. The DCPL is an India-based,
transactional Consultig Engineering Group. It renders concept-through-
completion services covering planning, technology selection and development,
design engineering, procurement assistance, construction supervision and
project management services, for implementing diverse core-sector and high-
technology projects around the world.
The DCPL has a wholly owned subsidiary in the Bahamas, M/s Development
Consultant International Limited (DCIL). The DCIL in turn has a wholly owned
subsidiary in the United States of America, M/s AMDC Inc. USA. The AMDC Inc.
USA has two wholly owned subsidiaries in USA, Data-Core Systems Inc. (Data-
Core US) and The Kuljian Corporation (TKC). The DCPL (assessee) also has a
wholly owned subsidiary in India M/s Data-Core (India) Private Limited (Data-
Core India). The DCPL (assessee) entered into the following international
transactions during the previous year relevant to Assessment Year 2005-06 with
three related parties, DClL,TKC and Data-Core USA all of which are Associated
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Enterprises (AEs) within the meaning of section 92A of the Income-tax Act,
1961.
The DClL provides engineering services to its clients who are engaged in
turnkey projects at various industrial sites. It acts as a distributor undertaking
marketing activities. The DCPL has TP study report, prepared by PWC ( big 4
audit firm) and analysis made by the assessee in its TP study report to justify
the arm's length nature of its international transactions and the TP study report
recommended the CPM and the TNMM method as the most appropriate
methods.
The details of the international transactions entered into by the assessee during
the assessment year under consideration are as follows:
Associated Description of Class of Value (in Rs.) Enterprise transaction transaction DCIL Engineering Drawing & Service 28,054,019 design Services TKC Engineering Drawing & Service 4,531,613 Design Services Deputation Service 4,768,494 Data-Core Reimbursements Reimbursement 41,219,082 US
Analysis done by TP study report of the assessee in respect of engineering
drawing & design Services provided to DClL & TKC are as follows: DClL provides engineering services to its clients who are engaged in turnkey projects at various industrial sites. It acts as a distributor undertaking marketing activities and downloads all the design and engineering work generated by it to the assessee.
TKC is engaged in provision of engineering services to its customers most of which are in the Middle East. In certain cases, TKC does not have the necessary technical expertise to complete the contract and such portion of the job are subcontracted to assessee for which TKC pays fees to the assessee based on man- hours utilised. The work carried out by assessee is in the nature of engineering services like technical drawing, design etc.
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The assessee used the internal Cost Plus Method (CPM) to justify this class of international transaction. The assessee provides such services not only to its AE's but also to third parties. The margins (Gross Profit/Direct & Indirect cost of production or 'GP/DICOP') earned by the assessee in transactions with DClL & TKC was compared with margins earned by it in transactions with third parties. The results of analysis have been provided in the table below:
DESCRIPTIOIN TKC DCIL OTHERS Design Design Design
Income 45.32 280.54 324.52 Less:Salary 3.57 27.28 56.37 Less Direct travel 35.90 52.64 Less Direct Cost Total direct & indirect cost 3.57 63.18 109.01 Gross Margin 41.75 217.36 215.51 GP/DICOP 1169.47% 344.03% 197.70% Less:Overheads 5.20 39.72 82.07 Operating profit 36.55 177.64 133.44 Total Cost 8.77 102.90 191.08 OP/TC 416.76% 172.63% 69.83%
The results of the analysis show that the arm's length GP /DICOP earned by the
assessee in transactions with third parties is 197.70% whereas the assessee
earned a profitability at the gross level of 1169.47% on its international
transactions with TKC and 344.03% on its international transactions with DClL in
the relevant year. This establishes that the international transactions with AEs in
relation to Engineering Drawing & Design Services are at arm's length.
While making assessment, the Assessing Officer observed that since the
assessee company has International transactions with the associated
enterprises therefore, he referred the matter to Transfer Pricing Officer, u/s, 92
of the Income Tax Act.
The Transfer Pricing Officer while passing order U/s 92CA (3) of the Income Tax Act,1961, stated that “since in the earlier years, similar adjustments have been made, in this year also, the same adjustments are being proposed. By applying the markup on costs
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percentage earned from the unrelated parties to the costs incurred in relation to the international transactions with the AEs, the ALP is determined in the following manner.
Determination of ALP X Arms Length Mark-up% 198% Y Direct and Indirect Costs incurred by 356.13 assessee in India for rendering services to AEs Z-X x Y Arms Length Mark-up on costs 705.14 ALP= Y+Z Arms Length Price of the services 1061.27 rendered to the AEs
Thus, the arm’s length price for services rendered should have been Rs.1061.27 lakhs as against Rs.705.14 lakhs disclosed by the assessee. Accordingly, the adjustment to the prices of international transactions will be Rs.275.54 lakhs. Accordingly an addition of Rs.275.54 lakhs is to be made to the total income.”
The Transfer Pricing Officer, determined the Arm's Length Price for the
International transactions with assessee's Associated Enterprises to be at Rs.
1061.27 lakhs in place of Rs.705.14 lakhs claimed by the assessee company.
Accordingly, on the basis of order of Transfer Pricing Officer, an addition of Rs.
275.54 lakhs is made to the total income of assessee.
However, we noticed that the difference between the arm`s length price
computed by the Transfer Pricing Officer at Rs.1061.27 and arm`s length
computed by the assessee at Rs.705.14 comes at Rs. 356.13 Lakhs [1061.27-
705.14], therefore, the transfer pricing adjustment should be at Rs. 356.13 lakhs
instead of Rs. 275.54 lakhs. Since the Revenue is not an appeal before us for
this arithmetical error therefore, we just highlighted this error as a passing
reference and it does not have any impact on our adjudication process, because
the issue before us, in this appeal, is to decide whether Cost Plus method
(CPM) or Resale Price Method (RPM) would be applicable to the assessee.
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Based on the order of the Transfer Pricing Officer U/s 92CA(3) of the I.T. Act,
the Assessing Officer made the addition of Rs. 275.54 lakhs.
Aggrieved from the order of the Assessing Officer, the assessee filed an
appeal before the ld. Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals). The
Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), observed that since the assessee
company was engaged in similar/identical business activities with its same AEs
in the assessment years 2003-04 & 2004-05 and the facts of the case were duly
covered, in assessee`s own case, in the appeal no. ITA Nos. 79 & 80/Kol/2008,
Hon'ble ITAT 'A' Bench, Kolkata for the assessment years 2003-2004 & 2004-
2005 and the AO had not brought on record any new facts, based on the ITAT
judgement. Accordingly, the ld CIT(A) directed to the AO to compute ALP on a
transaction-by-transaction basis.
The ld CIT(A) also supported the judgment of the Hon`ble ITAT in assessee`s
own case (supra), for international transactions of the assessee with associated
enterprises, namely, The Kuljian Corporation, USA and Datacore Systems Inc.
USA. The ld CIT(A) confirmed the analysis done by the assessee in connection
with international transactions of rendering of engineering, drawing and design
services and deputation of employees by the assessee to its AE's namely The
Kuljian Corporation, USA and international transactions with Data core systems
Inc, USA on the basis of Hon'ble ITAT's decision that the transfer pricing
analysis should be done from the Indian side considering the assessee as the
tested party.
Regarding international transactions of the assessee with its AE 'DClL', the ld CIT(A) agreed with the Hon'ble ITAT judgment (supra) with some modification,
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stating that Resale Price method is appropriate method for the purpose of
calculation of ALP in respect of such international transactions.
However, Ld. CIT (A) deviated from the judgment of Hon`ble ITAT Kolkata in
assessee`s own case (supra), stating that if there are differences between the
accounting periods, accounting policies etc. of the assessee and its AE's, the
price at which services are resold by the AE is not commensurate with the price
at which services obtained from the assessee. Therefore, Ld.CIT(A) held that if
ALP should be computed for the purpose of determining the total income of the
assessee on the basis of sale of DCIL it shall distort the result and whole
purpose of the provisions of the Act in relation to computation of ALP shall be
defeated. Therefore, ALP shall be computed on the basis of RPM as directed by
the Hon'ble ITAT but by using a contemporary resale price which is generally
allowed in developed countries by applying the margin earned by the DCIL on
resale of the services obtained from the assessee. Based on the above
observations the ld CIT(A) computed the ALP as follows:
(a).First of all Ld. CIT (A) worked out the GP/Cost ratio @ 159.67% by taking the sale and cost of sale of DCIL in US $, as under: Margin of the DClL is computed by the CIT(A), as under:
Sale of DCIL US $ 12,20,404 Cost of sale (sub contracting fees) US $ 4,69,984 GP/Cost = [( 12,20.404-4,69,984)/4,69,984]* 1 00= 159.67
(b)Thereafter, the ld CIT(A) computed the ALP in respect of transactions with the DClL based on Re-Sale Price Method (RPM ) as under:
Sale Value of the assessee (Cost of sale for DClL) 280.54 lacs Add: Gross margin earned by the DClL on sale of such 447.94 lacs services @159.67% on cost Sales (Cost + Gross margin) 728.48 lacs GP/Sales 61.49%
Arm's Length GP/Sales 25.69%
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Arm's Length GP/Sale considering 5% 26.97% Arm's Length Gross margin 196.47 lacs Arm's Length cost of sale 532.01 lacs Deficit in fees paid to the assessee by DCIL 251.47 lacs ( 532.01 -280.54)
This way, the ld.CIT (A) calculated the ALP at Rs. 251.47 lakhs and he,
accordingly, directed the AO to calculate the ALP at Rs. 251.47 lakhs, in
respect of international transactions with DClL.
The ld.CIT(A), also sated that the ALP determined in respect of the
international transactions of the assessee with AE's namely The Kuljian
Corporation, USA and Datacore System INC, USA by the assessee is correct.
However, the ALP determined by the assessee in respect of DClL is not correct
and accordingly ALP should be recomputed at Rs.251.47 Lakhs, as explained
in the above cited computation, done by the ld.CIT(A).
In fact, the ld. AR for the assessee submitted before us that ld.CIT(A) has
disregarded and deviated from the judgment of Ho`ble ITAT Kolkata, in
assessee`s own case (supra), so far the ALP of transactions of DCIL are
concerned. The ALP in respect of DCIL transactions, computed by the ld.CIT(A)
neither falls in CPM method nor in RPM method.
Therefore, being aggrieved from the order of the ld.CIT(A), the Revenue is in
appeal before us, and Assessee is in cross objections before us. The grounds
of appeal taken by the Revenue and the Cross Objections raised by the
Assessee are as follows:
Grounds of Appeal Taken by the Revenue 1.On the facts and circumstances of the case whether the ld. CIT(A) was correct in rejecting the transfer price determined by the TPO as per Cost Plus Method and in its place applying the Resale Price Method.
Cross-Objections raised by the Assessee
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That on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the appellant erred in not appreciating that the Ld. CTT (Appeals) was correct in rejecting the transfer price determined by the Ld. Transfer Pricing Officer by applying the Cost Plus Method and accepting the Resale Price Method applied by the respondent in determining transfer price. 2. That on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Ld. CIT (Appeals) erred in directing the Ld. Assessing Officer to compute an adjustment of Rs. 25,147,000/- to the international transactions of the assessee with its Associated Enterprise (AE), namely, Development Consultant International Ltd. without considering the mode of computation adjudicated by the Honb'le jurisdictional Appellate Tribunal in the respondent's own case, namely ITA NO.79 & 80/Kol/2008 [(2008) 23 SOT 455 (KOL.)). 3. That on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Ld. ClT (Appeals) erred in not appreciating that the aforesaid verdict of the Hon,ble jurisdictional Appellate Tribunal is binding on the authorities below. 4. Without prejudice to grounds (1) to (3) above, the Ld. CTT (Appeals) erred in ignoring the 'Economic Analysis' with respect to the international transaction between the assessee company and Development Consultant International Ltd., contained in the "Analysis of Transfer Pricing Arrangement with Associated Enterprises - Fiscal year ending 31st March, 2005", which was filed before the Ld. Transfer Pricing Officer during the course of assessment proceeding under Section 92CA (3) of the Income-tax Act. 5. That the assessee company craves leave to add to and/or alter, amend, modify or rescind the grounds hereinabove before or at the hearing of this appeal.
The grounds of appeal taken by the Revenue and the cross objections raised by the assessee relate to the same issue, that is, whether cost plus method (CPM) or Resale Price Method ( RPM) should be applied to determine the Arm`s Length Price of transactions with DCIL. The Solitary grievance of the Revenue is that the cost plus method (CPM) should be applied to determine the Arm`s Length Price (ALP) whereas the solitary grievance of the Assessee is that Re-Sale Price Method (RPM) should be applied to compute the ALP.
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8.1 Before us, the Ld DR for the Revenue has submitted that the assessee has himself accepted the Cost Plus Method (CPM) and Transactional Net Margin Method (TNMM) as most appropriate method in his Transfer Pricing Study Report (TP-Study Report), submitted by him before the Transfer Pricing Officer (TPO). Therefore, the CPM method recommended by the TPO is the appropriate method, which is based on the TP study report of the assessee. This way, the ld DR for the Revenue has strongly defended the order passed by the ld. TPO. He also pointed out that order passed by the ld CIT(A) is not in accordance with the TP study report of the assessee therefore, it should be dismissed and TPO order should be restored.
8.2 Before us, the Ld. AR for the assessee, has submitted that the
A.O/TPO has not followed the ITAT's decision in the appellant's own case on a similar issue and instead computed the ALP in respect of international transactions of the assessee by selecting the cost plus method wherein the TPO compared all the related party transactions without considering the transaction separately as held by the ITAT. The Hon'ble Income Tax Appellate Tribunal- Kolkata, in the appeal No.ITA Nos.79 & 80/Kol/2008, in the case of the assessee for assessment years 2003-04 & 2004-05, had concluded that in relation to the engineering drawing and design services rendered by the assessee to its associated enterprise DClL, the DClL should retain the gross margins as determined through the benchmarking exercise. In accordance with the ruling of the Hon'ble Tribunal, the assessee submitted the analysis of its international transactions with the associated enterprise DClL relevant for assessment year 2005-06. The Ld. AR for the assessee submitted that M/s Development Consultants International Limited ('DClL') is a wholly owned
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subsidiary of the assessee in Bahamas. It is engaged in providing engineering
services to its clients who are engaged in turnkey projects at various industrial
sites. Since, DClL does not have the necessary technical expertise it downloads
all the design and engineering work it generates to the assessee.
As per the ld AR for the assessee the margin earned by DClL for the year ended
31st December 2004 are provided in the table below:
(Amount in US Dollars)
Profit Level Indicator-DCIL Year Ending Dec 2004 Particulars Turnover 1,220,404 Cost of Sales (COS) Sub Contracting fee 469,984 Salary 103,615 Travelling 1,056 Total COS 574,655
Gross Profit 645,749 GP/Sales 52.91%
The assessee computed the arm's length GP/ Sales of the comparable
companies at 25.69% in his analysis. The arm's length GP/ Sales of the
comparable companies at 25.69% is lower than the GP/Sales of DClL for the
year ended 31st December 2004 of 52.91% explained in the table above, which
clearly indicates that DClL has retained more than the arm's length margin.
However, the TPO while passing the order for the assessment year under
consideration chose to ignore order of Hon'ble Tribunal and following its own
approach which is not justifiable. The ld AR for the assessee mentioned that
verdict of jurisdictional Tribunal is binding on the authorities below i.e. the
assessing and the appellant authority as per the judgment of Hon`ble Supreme
Court in the case of Union of India vs. Kamalakshmi Finance Limited - AIR 1992
SC 711.
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The Ld AR for the assessee also pointed out that ld CIT(A) accepted the
judgment of the Hon`ble ITAT with some modification and computed the ALP in
respect of transactions with the DClL based on Re-Sale Price Method (RPM )
as under:
Sale Value of the assessee (Cost of sale for DClL) 280.54 lacs Add: Gross margin earned by the DClL on sale of such 447.94 lacs services @159.67% on cost Sales (Cost + Gross margin) 728.48 lacs GP/Sales 61.49%
Arm's Length GP/Sales 25.69% Arm's Length GP/Sale considering 5% 26.97% Arm's Length Gross margin 196.47 lacs Arm's Length cost of sale 532.01 lacs Deficit in fees paid to the assessee by DCIL 251.47 lacs ( 532.01 -280.54)
This way, the ld.CIT (A) calculated the ALP at Rs. 251.47 lakhs and he,
accordingly, directed the AO to calculate the ALP at Rs. 251.47 lakhs, in
respect of international transactions with DClL.
The above cited method adopted by the ld CIT(A) to compute the ALP, neither
falls in CPM Method nor in RPM Method. The Gross profit on sales of DCIL has
been applied by ld.CIT(A) as Gross profit on cost of sales @ 159.67% which is
wrong. Because, the Gross profit percentage on sales can not be applied for
Gross profit percentage on cost therefore, the method adopted by the ld CIT(A)
to compute ALP is wrong and against the provisions of Rule 10B(1) (b) of the
Income Tax Rules, which are reproduced below:
“Rule 10B. Determination of arm’s length price under section 92C. (1) (b) resale price method, by which,-
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(i) the price at which property purchased or services obtained by the enterprise from an associated enterprise is resold or are provided to an unrelated enterprise, is identified;
(ii) such resale price is reduced by the amount of a normal gross profit margin accruing to the enterprise or to an unrelated enterprise from the purchase and resale of the same or similar property or from obtaining and providing the same or similar services, in a comparable uncontrolled transaction, or a number of such transactions;
(iii) the price so arrived at is further reduced by the expenses incurred by the enterprise in connection with the purchase of property or obtaining of services;
(iv) the price so arrived at is adjusted to take into account the functional and other differences, including differences in accounting practices, if any, between the international transaction 66 [ or the specified domestic transaction] and the comparable uncontrolled transactions, or between the enterprises entering into such transactions, which could materially affect the amount of gross profit margin in the open market;
(v) the adjusted price arrived at under sub-clause (iv) is taken to be an arm's length price in respect of the purchase of the property or obtaining of the services by the enterprise from the associated enterprise;”
The ld AR for the assessee pointed out that ALP computed by the CIT (A) by following contemporary resale price method is not in accordance with Rule 10B (1) (b) of the Income Tax Rules. The said Rule 10B (1) (b) defines the Resale Price Method, which is applicable to the assessee under consideration but the ld CIT (A) ignored it and applied his own method which is not applicable in Indian scenario. Therefore, ld CIT(A) has deviated from the accepted method in India.
Hence, ld AR for the assessee has requested the Bench to direct the ld.CIT(A) to
follow the method accepted by the Hon`ble Tribunal in assessee`s own case
(supra).
8.3. Having heard the rival submissions, perused the material available on
record, we are of the view that there is merit in the submissions of the assessee,
as the propositions canvassed by the ld. AR for the assessee are supported by
the judgment of Hon`ble ITAT Kolkata in assessee`s own case (supra). As ld AR
14 ITA No.1591/Kol/2010 CO No.144/Kol/2010 M/s Development Consultants Ltd. for the assessee has rightly pointed out that method adopted by the ld.CIT(A) to compute ALP neither falls in CPM Method nor in RPM Method.The Hon'ble Income Tax Appellate Tribunal-Kolkata, in the appeal No.ITA Nos.79 & 80/Kol/2008, in the case of the assessee for assessment years 2003-04 & 2004- 05, had concluded that in relation to the engineering drawing and design services rendered by the assessee to its associated enterprise DClL, the DClL should retain the gross margins as determined through the benchmarking exercise. In accordance with the ruling of the Hon'ble Tribunal, the assessee submitted to the TPO, the analysis of its international transactions with the associated enterprise DClL relevant for assessment year 2005-06, which is given below: SI. No. Particulars Reference Amount (USD)
l. Actual Sales 1,220,404 2. Actual Cost of Sales 574,654 3. Actual Gross Profit (1-2) 645,750 4. GP/Sales 3/1 52.91% 5. Arm's Length 25.69% 6. Arm's length Gross 1 *5 313522 7. Arm's length Cost of 1-6 906,882 8. Arm's length Cost of 7*95% 861,538 Sales considering 5% 9. Deficit in fees paid to 8-2 286,884
Hence, based on the above analysis, the appellant offered the amount of
adjustment to the international transaction with DCIL at USD 286,884.
No doubt, the ld CIT (A) had confirmed the applicability of Re sale Price Method (RPM) as the most appropriate method, but with some modification. The ld CIT(A) observed that accounting period of assessee (DCPL) and accounting
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period of DCIL (subsidiary) is different. Therefore, the ld.CIT(A) did the
modification in the approach adopted by the Hon`ble ITAT in assessee`s case
(supra), which is not justifiable. While doing the modification, the ld CIT(A) had
only gone by the assumption that since Sale figure for January 2005 to March
2005 was not available therefore, he arrived at some sort of a hypothetical figure
by applying the contemporary resale price method wherein he tried to correlate
the sale price of DCPL for March ending with cost price of DCIL for December
ending and determine the gross profitability for March ending to compute the
value of adjustment of Rs.251.47 lakhs, as follows:
Margin of the DClL is computed by the CIT(A), as under:
Sale of DCIL US $ 12,20,404
Cost of sale (sub contracting fees) US $ 4,69,984
GP/Cost = [( 12,20.404-4,69,984)/4,69,984]* 1 00= 159.67
Adjustment of Rs.251.47 lakhs computed by the ld CIT(A), as under
Sale Value of the assessee (Cost of sale for DClL) 280.54 lacs Add: Gross margin earned by the DClL on sale of such 447.94 lacs services @159.67% on cost Sales (Cost + Gross margin) 728.48 lacs GP/Sales 61.49%
Arm's Length GP/Sales 25.69% Arm's Length GP/Sale considering 5% 26.97% Arm's Length Gross margin 196.47 lacs Arm's Length cost of sale 532.01 lacs Deficit in fees paid to the assessee by DCIL 251.47 lacs ( 532.01 -280.54)
We observed that the above cited method adopted by the ld CIT(A), to compute
the ALP is not accepted because of the following reasons:
(1). First of all, as we have seen that ld CIT(A) has ignored the provisions of
Rule 10B (1) (b) of the Income Tax Rules, which contain the definition of RPM.
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(2).The ld.CIT(A) referred the contemporary resale price and stated that this method is internationally recognized in developed countries. The ld CIT(A) failed to explain that how and why his method is recognized internationally, he failed to bring any evidence and citation on record. (3) The Ld.CIT (A) failed to demonstrate that why Rule 10B(1) (b) of the I.T. Rules is not applicable to the assessee under consideration. The only grievance of the ld CIT(A) is that the accounting period of the assessee (DCPL) is different from the DCIL. To address this issue of ld CIT(A) the assessee has submitted the following computation before us ( which is as per the Judgment of Hon`ble ITAT Kolkata in assessee`s own case.): Determining DCIL gross margin from March ending financials
Particulars Label 31 March 05 USD Sale of DCIL M 1,337,869 Cost of sale N 637,590 GP O=M-N 700,279 GP/Sales P=O/M 52.34%
Arm’s length GP/Sales H 25.69% Arm’s length gross margin Q=M*H 343.699 Arm’s length cost of sale R=M-Q 994,170 Amount of adjustment S=R-N 356,580 Average exchange rate in FY T 43,750 2004-05* Amount of adjustment (in INR) K=I*J 15,600,375 To address, CIT(A)’s reservations, the audited financial data for the period April 04 to March 05 is available now and the same should be considered for determination of arm’s length price. Basically, the ld CIT(A) adopted his own approach because data for the period January 2005 to March 2005 ( for three Months) were not available before him because he did not give an opportunity to the assessee to produce the same.
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We are of the view that in any event the ld CIT(A) can not apply his own method
except the method given in Rule 10B (1) (b) of the I.T. Rules. However, for
difference in accounting period the TPO/AO may examine the figures for the
period January 2005 to March 2005.
As per the additional evidence produced by the ld AR for the assessee, before
us, (financials of DCIL from January 2005 to March 2005), since these figures of
financials of DCIL from January 2005 to March 2005 were not available before
the TPO/AO. Therefore, for difference in accounting period, the TPO/AO may
examine the figures for the period January 2005 to March 2005 of DCIL.
Therefore, we direct the TPO/AO to examine the figures of the financials of
DCIL for the period January 2005 to March 2005 and compute the ALP as per
the method suggested by the Hon`ble ITAT in assessee`s own case and
submitted by the assessee before us. We direct TPO/AO only to examine the
figures of the financials of DCIL from January 2005 to March 2005, and if he
finds the figures of the financials of DCIL true and correct, he should accept the
computation of the assessee as furnished by the assessee before us, which is
reproduced by us above.
Therefore, based on the factual position, we direct the AO/TPO to accept the
computation as given before us, (after verification of figures of January 2005 to
March 2005), which is based on the method accepted by the Hon`ble ITAT,
Kolkata in assessee`s own case (supra).
8.4 In the result, the appeal filed by the Revenue is dismissed and cross
objections filed by the assessee are also allowed for statistical purposes.
18 ITA No.1591/Kol/2010 CO No.144/Kol/2010 M/s Development Consultants Ltd. Order pronounced in the open court on this 15/02/2017.
Sd/- Sd/- (N.V.VASUDEVAN) (DR. A.L.SAINI) �या�यक सद�य / JUDICIAL MEMBER लेखा सद�य / ACCOUNTANT MEMBER कोलकाता /Kolkata; �दनांक Dated 15/02/2017 �काश �म�ा/Prakash Mishra,�न.स/ PS आदेश क� ��त�ल�प अ�े�षत/Copy of the Order forwarded to : 1. अपीलाथ� / The Assessee-DCIT, Cir-11, Kolkata 2. ��यथ� / The Respondent.-Development Consultants Ltd 3. आयकर आयु�त(अपील) / The CIT(A), Kolkata. 4. आयकर आयु�त / CIT 5. �वभागीय ��त�न�ध, आयकर अपील�य अ�धकरण, कोलकाता / DR, ITAT, Kolkata 6. गाड� फाईल / Guard file. स�या�पत ��त //True Copy// आदेशानुसार/ BY ORDER,
उप/सहायक पंजीकार (Asstt. Registrar) आयकर अपील�य अ�धकरण, कोलकाता / ITAT, Kolkata