The Commissioner Of Income ... vs Western Union Financial Services Inc.

ik-188584821 Delhi High Court 18 December 2024 • 107 min read

Judges (2)

Ravinder Dudeja Coram Yashwant Varma Delivered

Counsel (8)

Ajay Vohra Counsel Respondent Anant Mann Counsel Appellant Aseem Chawla Counsel Appellant Gaurav Jain Counsel Respondent Pratishtha Counsel Appellant Ruchir Bhatia Counsel Appellant Shalini Counsel Respondent Shubham Gupta Counsel Respondent

Parties (3)

Commissioner of Income Tax Appellant Director of Income Tax Appellant Western Union Financial Services Inc Respondent

Case Significance

The Commissioner Of Income ... vs Western Union Financial Services Inc. is a Delhi High Court decision dated December 18, 2024 (citation: ik-188584821). In a batch of income tax appeals spanning multiple assessment years, the Revenue challenged the ITAT's finding that Western Union Financial Services Inc. did not have a Permanent Establishment (PE) in India under the India-USA Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement. The court held that the liaison office did not constitute a Fixed Place PE (activities were auxiliary), there was no Dependent Agent PE (Indian agents were independent third parties), and the software connecting agents to the mainfra The bench comprised Justices Ravinder Dudeja and Yashwant Varma. The judgment was delivered by Justice Yashwant Varma.

Summary

In a batch of income tax appeals spanning multiple assessment years, the Revenue challenged the ITAT's finding that Western Union Financial Services Inc. did not have a Permanent Establishment (PE) in India under the India-USA Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement. The court held that the liaison office did not constitute a Fixed Place PE (activities were auxiliary), there was no Dependent Agent PE (Indian agents were independent third parties), and the software connecting agents to the mainframe was intangible property excluded from PE threshold. All appeals were dismissed in this 72-page landmark judgment.

What was the outcome of The Commissioner Of Income ... vs Western Union Financial Services Inc.?

In a batch of income tax appeals spanning multiple assessment years, the Revenue challenged the ITAT's finding that Western Union Financial Services Inc. did not have a Permanent Establishment (PE) in...

Judgment

Read the full judgment on the official India Courts portal.

Read on Indian Kanoon

Source: Indian Kanoon (ik-188584821)