In Brief
A.P. Moller Maersk A.S, a Danish shipping company, provided its agents in India with access to the Maersk Net, a global automated communication system for cargo booking and coordination. The Revenue taxed payments from agents for this access as technical service fees under the Indo-Danish Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement. The Supreme Court held the payments are cost reimbursements, not technical service fees. The Maersk Net is an automated facility integral to shipping operations, not a specialized service. Technical services require human effort and cater to special needs; common facilities available to all agents do not qualify. The Court dismissed the Revenue's appeals.
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