Taxability of Receipts from Live Transmission Rights as Royalty under the Domestic Law: A Critique of the Tax Tribunal Decision in the Fox Network Group Case

Abstract

The recent ruling of an Indian tax tribunal in the Fox Networks Group case seeks to undo the 2012 amendment by India, which retrospectively clarifies that the term ‘process’ in India’s domestic law would include transmission by satellite, cable, optic-fiber or by any other similar technology, irrespective of whether such process is secret or not. This article intends to examine and review the law on the subject and jurisprudentially critique the Fox Networks Groupdecision in the light of the principles evolved to interpret the concept and context of royalty, both internationally as well as at the domestic level, post amendment.