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HIGH COURT OF DELHI
ITA 334/2016
COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX -7 ..... Appellant
Through: Mr. Dileep Shivpuri, Sr. Standing Counsel with Mr. Sanjay Kumar, Advocate.
Through: Mr. M.S. Syali, Sr. Advocate with Mr. Mayank Nagi and Ms Husnal Syali, Advocates.
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE NAJMI WAZIRI O R D E R 12.07.2016
JUDGMENT
1. This appeal by the Revenue is directed against the order dated 14th October 2015 passed by the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal („ITAT‟) in ITA No. 1432/Del/2011 for the Assessment Year („AY‟) 2004-05.
2. The question of law urged by the Revenue is whether the ITAT was justified in deleting the addition made by the Assessing Officer („AO‟) of Rs. 59,78,91,950/- on the basis of the adjustment made by the Transfer Pricing Officer („TPO‟) on account of international transactions of payment of royalty and not confirming the action of the AO in restricting the payment of royalty to 30% of the actual sales as against 56% claimed by the assessee. 2016:DHC:4873-DB
3. The brief facts are that, pursuant to the reference made by the AO, the TPO passed an order dated 13th December, 2006 for the AY in question on the basis of the Transfer Pricing („TP‟) Study submitted by the Assessee. Inter alia, in the order the TPO noted the submission made by the Assessee by its letter dated 8th November 2006 giving the reason for enhancement of the royalty rate from 30% to 56%. The Assessee drew a distinction between the royalty rate that was paid in the earlier years and the 'effective royalty' during those years. The Assessee was able to demonstrate that the average effective rate of royalty paid during the five years from 1998-99 to 2002-03 was 59% and that by revising the royalty agreement to 56%, it had actually resulted in a lower payout during the current year. The Assessee also attributed the enhancement of the royalty rate from 30% to 56% to the relaxing of controls by the Government of India.
4. In the impugned order of the ITAT has after a detailed discussion concluded as under:
5. It has been rightly noted by the ITAT, once the liberalized policy did away with the requirement of computing the royalty with reference to the list price (Indian Published Price), the Assessee moved from the regime of royalty payment as a percentage of the list price to the actual license and support review.
6. In the circumstances, the conclusion arrived at by the ITAT appears to be perfectly justified. It is based on facts and does not give rise to any substantial question of law. It may also be noticed that in the AYs 2008-09 and 2009-10, the TPO has accepted the royalty payment at 56% of the actual sales. Also, the Dispute Resolution Panel has accepted the Assessee‟s case for AYs 2006-07 and 2007-08.
7. Accordingly, the appeal is dismissed.
S.MURALIDHAR, J NAJMI WAZIRI, J JULY 12, 2016 kk