Income Tax

CBDT APA Program crosses 150 Milestone. Total number of Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs) entered reached 152.

CBDT APA Program crosses 150 Milestone. Total number of Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs) entered into by the CBDT has reached 152.

Ministry of Finance

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT’s) APA Program crosses the 150 Milestone

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has entered into 9 Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs) during the last two days of the current financial year. All the 9 Agreements entered into are Unilateral APAs. With this, the total number of APAs entered into by the CBDT has reached 152. This includes 11 Bilateral APAs and 141 Unilateral APAs. In Financial Year 2016-17, a total of 88 APAs (8 Bilateral APAs and 80 Unilateral APAs) were entered into. The APAs signed in financial year 2016-17 include Agreements with some technological behemoths having major operations in India in the IT sector.

The 9 APAs entered into during the last two days of the current Financial Year pertain to various sectors of the economy like Information Technology, Aviation, Oil & Gas, Automobiles, Electricals & Electronics, etc. The international transactions covered in these agreements include Receipt of Intra-Group Services, Provision of IT Enabled Services, Provision of Software Development Services, Provision of Engineering Design Services, Provision of Marketing Support Services, Import of Traded Goods, Payment of Interest on ECB, Receipt of Interest, Receipt of Guarantee Fee, Receipt of License Fee, Export of Goods, Receipt of Technical Support Services, Provision of Business Support Services, etc.

The APA Scheme was introduced in the Income-tax Act in 2012 and the “Rollback” provisions were introduced in 2014. The scheme endeavours to provide certainty to taxpayers in the domain of transfer pricing by specifying the methods of pricing and setting the prices of international transactions in advance. Since its inception, the APA scheme has been well-accepted by taxpayers and that has resulted in more than 800 applications (both Unilateral and Bilateral) being filed so far in five years.

The signing of 88 APAs in a single year (F.Y 2016-17) is a significant achievement of the CBDT and its Officers. The progress of the APA Scheme strengthens the Government’s resolve of fostering a non-adversarial tax regime. The Indian APA programme has been appreciated nationally and internationally for being able to address complex transfer pricing issues in a fair and transparent manner.

No. of Advance Pricing Agreements signed by CBDT
S. No Financial Year Unilateral APAs Bilateral APAs Total
1 2013-14 5 0 5
2 2014-15 3 1 4
3 2015-16 53 2 55
4 2016-17 80 8 88
Total 141 11 152

*****

Source: PIB

Share

Recent Posts

  • Income Tax

Date of digital signature and issue determines date of a notice u/s 148 of Income Tax Act

Date of digital signature and issuance determines the date of a notice u/s148 of the Income Tax Act - ITAT…

2 days ago
  • DGFT

DGFT authorises IACCIA to issue Certificate of Origin (Non- Preferential)

DGFT authorises IACCIA to issue Certificate of Origin (Non- Preferential) w.e.f. 9th January 2026 In exercise of powers conferred under…

2 days ago
  • Income Tax

Net profit rate may not have variation commensurate to increase of turnover

Net profit rate may not per se experience variation commensurate to the increase of turnover. In a recent judgment, Allahabad…

2 days ago
  • Excise/Custom

Mushroom growing apparatus cannot be classified as ‘agricultural machinery’

Mushroom growing apparatus cannot be classified as ‘agricultural machinery’ under Customs Tariff Heading 8436. In a recent judgment, Hon'ble Supreme…

2 days ago
  • negotiable instrument act

Statutory presumption attached to issuance of a cheque to be accorded due weight – SC

Statutory presumption attached to issuance of a cheque, being one made in discharge of a legally enforceable debt or liability,…

3 days ago
  • tender

Highest bid can’t be discarded on mere expectation of even more higher bid

Merely because the authority conducting auction expects higher bid than the highest bidder is no reason to discard the highest…

3 days ago