To compute the PE ‘duration test’ under Art. 5 (2) of the DTAA, different project sites can be aggregated only if the test of interconnection and interrelationship is satisfied

Article 5(2)(i) of the India-Mauritius DTAA defines “permanent establishment” to include “a building site or construction or assembly project or supervisory activities in connection therewith, where such site, project or supervisory activity continues for a period of more than nine months“. The assessee, a Mauritius company, executed three contracts in India. While the period of each contract was less than 183 days, cumulatively they exceeded that period. The question arose whether in determining whether the assessee had a PE in India, the period of all contracts could be aggregated. H...