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Ramnath & Co. v. The Commissioner of Income Tax

Civil Appeal · 2020 INSC 415Decided 5 Jun 2020
Civil Appeal No. 2510 of 2020
Justice A.M. Khanwilkar · Justice Dinesh Maheshwari

Background

The appellants were Indian firms acting as agents for foreign buyers of frozen seafood, helping them source suppliers, verify quality, and get market/pricing information from India, for which they earned commission in foreign exchange. They claimed a tax deduction under Section 80-O of the Income Tax Act, which rewards income earned for "services rendered from India" to foreign enterprises. The tax department denied the deduction, saying the services were actually "rendered in India" (an excluded category), while the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal sided with the firms; the Kerala High Court then reversed in favour of the tax department.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court agreed with the High Court and tax department, holding that the firms were essentially acting as procurement agents for the foreign buyers, negotiating with local sellers, inspecting goods, and supervising quality within India, which are services performed "in India" rather than specialised services "from India" that get used only abroad. The Court emphasized that Section 80-O's benefit is meant for genuine intellectual/technical services exported from India and used abroad, not for ordinary commission-based agency work physically carried out in India, and that the assessees failed to show which specific part of their fees related to any qualifying service. The appeals (and a connected appeal by another similarly-placed firm) were dismissed.

Lesson Learnt

A tax deduction meant to incentivize exporting expertise "from India" cannot be claimed merely because payment comes in foreign currency: the taxpayer must show the actual service was performed and used outside India, not just that a foreign client was informed of work done locally.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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