Payments to Non-Residents for News Articles and Photos Taxed as Royalties in India

In a recently published ruling, the Delhi Income Tax Appellate Tribunal held that payments made by Indian news agencies for news articles and photos distributed to them by a French news agency are considered royalty payments subject to withholding tax. The main factors leading to the decision of the Tribunal include:

• The news stories and photos are copyrighted property of the French news agency that required labor, skill, and capital to create
• The Indian news agencies acknowledged that news …