The Indian Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) delivered a ruling dated 10 June 2005 in the case of Essar Oil Ltd. v Joint Commissioner of Income Tax (unreported) on whether credit rating fees paid to an Australian entity were liable to income tax in India as "royalties" under the India-Australia tax treaty (tax treaty). (a) Facts. Essar Oil Ltd. (Essar Oil) made an application to the tax authorities for authorization to remit an annual surveillance fee of USD 25,000 to Standard and Poors (Australia) Pty Ltd. (S&P) without the need to withhold any tax in India. The fee was being...