{"id":4642,"date":"2013-11-09T10:01:03","date_gmt":"2013-11-09T04:31:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lex-warrier.in\/?p=4642"},"modified":"2023-07-01T15:46:11","modified_gmt":"2023-07-01T15:46:11","slug":"can-pizza-hut-get-lower-tax-treat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lex-warrier.in\/archives\/can-pizza-hut-get-lower-tax-treat.html","title":{"rendered":"Can Pizza Hut Get a \u2018Lower Tax\u2019 Treat?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Swarnim Shrivastava<\/b><\/p>\n

The leading Pizza chain will avail the benefit of a lower tax rate under India-US DTAA or not will be decided by the Delhi High Court ((Available at http:\/\/www.financialexpress.com\/news\/delhi-hc-to-take-call-on-pizza-hut-tax-exemption\/1187926\/0<\/a>)). The Pizza Hut International Case ((Pizza Hut International LLC v. DDIT (ITA No. 1656\/Del\/11) \u2013 Taxsutra.com))has been decided by the income tax appellate tribunal (ITAT) last year, where the primary issue was whether the royalty is taxable on \u2018gross amount\u2019 or net amount under the tax treaty.<\/p>\n

The Tribunal in this ruling explained the meaning of the word \u2018gross amount\u2019 and held that the term gross amount includes within its ambit the actual payment and tax deducted at source. Therefore, the taxpayer had option to be taxed at the rate of 15 percent of the gross amount or tax rate applicable under the Act i.e. 20 percent after claiming exemption under Section 10(6A) of the Act.<\/p>\n

Factual Background<\/b><\/h2>\n
    \n
  • The taxpayer is a tax-resident of the USA and was earning royalty from Yum Restaurant India Ltd (YUM) under a technical license agreement.<\/li>\n
  • \u00a0In the return of income filed, the taxpayer claimed that its income was taxable at the rate of 15 percent under the tax treaty. The Assessing Officer (AO) noted that the taxpayer had claimed exemption under Section 10(6A) of the Act ((Section 10(6A) of the Act exempts the royalty income if the agreement was made after 31 March 1976 but before 1 June 2002))in respect of tax on royalty borne by YUM.<\/li>\n
  • The AO was of the opinion that the assessment has to be made either in accordance with the provisions contained in the Act or in the tax treaty.<\/li>\n
  • \u00a0The taxpayer cannot avail the exemption under Section 10(6A) of the Act and at the same time claim that tax should be levied at the rate of 15 percent under the tax treaty.<\/li>\n
  • \u00a0Since the taxpayer claimed the exemption, the income should be taxed at the rate of 20 percent as provided in the Act. <\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Findings of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal<\/b><\/h2>\n
      \n
    • The term \u2018gross amount\u2019 has not been defined in the treaty. In common parlance, these words mean the amount received along with tax deducted at source. If the intention was to tax only that amount which is actually paid to the taxpayer, then the word \u2018amount\u2019 only would have been used. Therefore, it was clear that the intention was to tax the \u2018gross amount\u2019 and not the net amount of the royalty.<\/li>\n
    • Reiterating Section 198 of the Act, the Tribunal held that it embodies in itself the principle that tax deducted at source, for which credit is available to the payee, was nothing but payment of income, utilized for payment of tax on behalf of the payee.<\/li>\n
    • Therefore, this section also embodies the principle of ascertaining the gross amount paid by the payer to the payee.<\/li>\n
    • \u00b7In terms of this provision also, the gross amount would mean the actual payment by way of royalty and tax deducted at source, paid to the Central Government on behalf of the payee.<\/li>\n
    • The amount of tax deducted at source would not be excluded from the total income under Section 10(6A) of the Act as no computation is required for finding the \u2018gross amount\u2019 of royalties paid to the taxpayer.<\/li>\n
    • ITAT concluded that \u201cboth under the Act and the treaty, the tax paid by the licensee (Yum) on behalf of the assessee (Pizza Hut) will have to be included in the \u201cgross amounts\u201d, chargeable to tax. Therefore, the assessee has an option to be taxed at the rate of 15% of the gross amount or tax rate applicable under the Act on the net amount after claiming exemption u\/s 10(6A), which is 20%\u201d.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Current Position<\/b><\/h2>\n

      The major issue which lies before the High Court is that of whether the Pizza Hut could simultaneously avail of the benefit of a lower tax rate under the Indo-US Double Tax Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) and exemptions on payments of royalty under the Income Tax (I-T) Act. On a perusal of Article 12 of India-USA tax treaty, though the income become taxable at the point when it arises but the same would be taxed only when it is paid to resident of the other state.<\/p>\n

      Conclusion<\/b><\/p>\n

      Whatever be the decision of the High Court, Pizza Hut would not worry because it will be having the final recourse option i.e. the Apex Court. However, the High Court decision will be crucial considering the legal question at issue, as it will set a precedent for the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Swarnim Shrivastava The leading Pizza chain will avail the benefit of a lower tax rate under India-US DTAA or not will be decided by the Delhi High Court ((Available at…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[47],"tags":[1521,1582,1709,2515,2950,2983],"class_list":["post-4642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal-update","tag-income-tax-appellate-tribunal","tag-indo-us-double-tax-avoidance-agreement","tag-itat","tag-pizza-hut","tag-section-106a","tag-section-198","no-post-thumbnail","clearfix","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nCan Pizza Hut Get a \u2018Lower Tax\u2019 Treat? 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