Court: Authority of Advanced Ruling (AAR)
Citation: Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand [2010-TII-28-ARA-INTL]
Brief :Issuance of accreditation certificate does not result in making available skills, technical knowledge, etc and therefore does not result in rendering technical services as per India-Australia Tax Treaty.
Recently, the Authority of Advanced Ruling (AAR) in the case of Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand [2010-TII-28-ARA-INTL] dated 6 August 2010 held that issuance of accreditation certificate does not result in ‘making available’ skills, technical knowledge etc. possessed by the applicant and accordingly does not result in rendering technical services as per Article 12(3)(g) (Please see note-1) of India-Australia Tax Treaty (tax treaty).
Facts of the case
- The applicant, a tax resident of Australia, provides accreditation to CAB’s (Conformity Assessment Bodies) in several countries including India. The applicant accredits organizations which provide third party certification and/or inspection services.
- Post accreditation, regular surveillance visits are carried out by the applicant’s auditors to ensure that CAB maintains and operates its procedures in accordance with the requirements of the accreditation criteria.
- In consideration of the accreditation work done, the applicant receives fee from CAB in the form of application fee, programme fee, certificate fees and fee for conducting surveillance audit, witnessing audit and re-assessment visits.
Applicant’s contentions
