Reimbursement by Indian Company to Offshore Company for Obligated Expenses in Relation to Expatriates Not FTS: AAR Thursday, July 1, 2021
Reimbursement held not to be fees for technical services as there was employer-employee relationship between the Indian company and expatriate personnel.
Payments made to reimburse obligated expenses such as social security contributions, insurance and relocation expenses held to be reimbursement since they do not accrue to the offshore company.
The Mumbai bench of the Authority for Advance Rulings (“AAR”), held that reimbursement made by an Indian company, to a foreign company for certain obligatory payments made to expatriate personnel (“Personnel”) on behalf of the Indian company, would not be taxable as fees for technical services (“FTS”).1 In doing so, the AAR distinguished from the Delhi High Court’s (“Delhi HC”) ruling in Centrica Offshore v. CIT.2