SC Issued Notice in SLP Filed Against HC’s Ruling that TRC is Sufficient Evidence to Claim Treaty Benefits

Case Details: ACIT v. Blackstone Capital Partners (Singapore) VI FDI Three (P.) Ltd. - [2024] 158 taxmann.com 261 (SC)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

• • Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha & Aravind Kumar, JJ.
  • N Venkatraman, A.S.G. Nisha Bagchi, H.R. Rao, Akshit Pradhan, Udai Khanna, Nar hari Singh, Advs. & Raj Bahadur Yadav, AOR for the Appellant.

Facts of the Case

The Supreme Court of India has issued notice in the Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed against the ruling delivered by the Delhi High Court on the grant of treaty benefits based on the Tax Residency Certificate (TRC).

Supreme Court Held

The Delhi High Court held that the TRC is the only evidence required to be eligible for the benefit under the DTAA. AO cannot question it as it would be wholly contrary to the Government of India’s consistent policy and repeated assurances to Foreign Investors. AO cannot go behind the TRC issued by the other tax jurisdiction as the same is sufficient evidence to claim treaty eligibility, residence status, and legal ownership.

Accordingly, AO was not right in issuing reassessment notice to deny the benefit of India-Singapore DTAA to the assessee.

List of Cases Reviewed

• • Notice issued in SLP against Blackstone Capital Partners (Singapore) Vi Fdi Three Pte. Ltd. v. ACIT (International Taxation) [2023] 146 taxmann.com 569 (Delhi)/[2023] 452 ITR 111 (Delhi).