In re MasterCard Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. (GST AAR Delhi)
This legal digest is an attempt made to analyse classic case laws on a weekly basis from both the Direct and Indirect Tax legislations and deeply understand the nitty-gritties of legal provisions.
Highlights of the Judgement of MasterCard Asia Pacific Pte Ltd (a 123 page verdict) in an AAR application under the Income Tax Act, 1961 (June 2018):
The applicant is a Singapore entity (belonging to the MasterCard International Incorporated). It enters into agreements with customers (banks) for transaction processing and payments related services under the brand name ‘MasterCard’. Consideration for its services is through fees relating to authorization, clearing and settlement of transactions and fees for other value additions. The whole processing activities are carried out by networks and predominant processing takes place outside India(Assessee’s contention) except for a system placed(called MIPs) in the customer’s location and disbursement of the amounts done by Bank Of India(on behalf of the applicant). The Applicant has a subsidiary in India, namely MasterCard India Services Private Limited (“Indian subsidiary”-MISPL), in which it owns 99% of the shareholding
Questions raised:
- Whether there is a PE in India
- If PE is existing, whether an arm’s length remuneration for activities performed in Indi would absolve any further attribution of global profits in India
- Whether the fees charged from the Indian customers would be treated as Royalty or Fees for Technical Services?
- Any withholding tax is applicable
Revenue’s arguments:
