Start free trial
ThynkTax /Tax Reference /Case Laws /Engineering Analysis (Software royalty)

Engineering Analysis (Software royalty)

Supreme Court of India·2021·ITR
Facts

Payment for shrink-wrapped software licences from foreign vendors.

Issue

Whether such payments constitute "royalty" under Section 9(1)(vi) and the relevant DTAA?

Held

No. Sale of off-the-shelf software is a sale of a copyrighted article, not a transfer of copyright. No TDS under Section 195 required.

Ratio

Distinction between transfer of copyright (royalty) and sale of copyrighted article (purchase) is fundamental.

Related judgments on the same sections

Supreme Court of India · 2017
Formula One Championship

Facts: F1 Championship's circuit access at Buddh International Circuit in India. Issue: Whether F1 had a Permanent Establishment in India un…

Supreme Court of India · 2017
GE India - Royalty vs business profits

Facts: GE India making payments to foreign affiliates for technology and management. Issue: Royalty/FTS vs business profits classification u…

Supreme Court of India · 2010
GE India Technology - TDS scope

Facts: GE India remitted payments to foreign parent. TDS dispute under Section 195. Issue: Whether the payer is obliged to deduct TDS on eve…

Supreme Court of India · 2012
Vodafone International

Facts: Vodafone acquired Hutchison's Indian telecom business through a Cayman Islands SPV transfer. Income Tax Department demanded ₹11,000 c…

High Court · 2020
Cairn India - Indirect transfer aftermath

Facts: Cairn India's retrospective indirect-transfer tax demand. Issue: Validity of retrospective amendment + BIT arbitration. Held: Demand …

Use via API

Free, public REST. Fetch this judgment programmatically.

API docs 
curl https://api.thynktax.com/v1/tax-law/case-laws?q=Engineering%20Analysis%20(Software%20royalty)