F. No. 500/138/2002-FTD II, dated 16-8-2013

Ftd ii dated 16 8 2013 f. no. 500/138/2002 ftd ii dated 16 8 2013

What this is

F. No. 500/138/2002-FTD II, dated 16-8-2013 was issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes on 16 August 2013. Its subject is Ftd ii dated 16 8 2013 f. no. 500/138/2002 ftd ii dated 16 8 2013.

This one is about a tax treaty. India’s treaties enter Indian law by notification under section 90; where the instrument below is that notification, its date decides from when the treaty may be applied, and where it is a circular, it is the Board telling its officers how it reads the treaty — which is not the same thing.

What it does

Circulates the notification publishing the double taxation avoidance agreement between India and the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and on capital. The notification, with the agreement, was published in the Gazette of India (Extraordinary) on 5 July 2013. All the provisions of the agreement are to be given effect to in the Union of India with effect from 1 April 2014. A copy of the notification and agreement was enclosed with the communication.

Why it was issued

It is a circulating letter: the agreement had been notified and the Board was sending the published text to its officers and to the other departments concerned.

Who it reaches

Residents of India with income or capital connected with Uruguay
Uruguayan residents earning from India
Withholding agents making payments to Uruguayan residents
Assessing Officers dealing with treaty claims from 1 April 2014

The instrument, as the Board published it

The department publishes this one only as a PDF, so the words below were read out of that PDF by machine. That reading can carry its own mistakes — a misread number, a broken line. Check the signed document before you rely on a figure in it.

F.No. 5 00/ 1 3 8 I 2002-F TD -lI
Govemment of India
Ministry of finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Direct Taxes
(Foreign Tax & Tax Research Division - IV)
7th Floor,'C'Wing,
Hudco Vishala Building,
14, Bhikaji Cama Place,
New Delhi, the 16fr August,20l3
Subject:-Circulation of the published notifications of the Agreement between the Government of
the Republic of India and the Government of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay for
the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect
to taxes on income and on capital in the Gazette of India (extraordinary)- reg.
The Notification along with the Agreement between the Govemment of the Republic of
India and the Government of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay for the avoidance of Double
Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and on capital was
published on 5'h Juty, 2013 through S.O. 20Sl(E). Notification No.53120131500113812002-FTDII, A copy of the same is enclosed for information.
2. All the provision of the said Agreement between the Govemment of the Republic of India
and the Government of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay for the avoidance of Double Taxation
and the Prevention of Fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and on capital shall be given
effect to in the Union of India with effect from the l't day of April, 2014.
,__-
Encl.:As above #>
(Alok Malviya)
Under Secretary (FT&TR-IV)
Tele/Fax. 26179276
l. PS to Finance Minister/PS to MOSF(R)
2. PS to Secretary (Revenue)
3. PS to Chainnan, CBDT,
4. All CCsIT & All DGs IT
5. JS(L&T),Ministry of Extemal Affairs, Bhagwan Dass Road, New Delhi.
6. JS (LAC), Ministry of External Affairs, South Block, New Delhi
7. JS (Legal), Ministry of Law & Justice, Dept. of Legal Affairs, Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi
8. PS to JS (TPL-D/JS(TPL-IIyJS(FT&TR-I)/JS(Fr&TR-II)
9. All Directors (FT&TR Division)
10. All under Secretaries, (FT&TR Division)
11. DGIT (systems) for uploading in the departmental website. (Copy of Notification also sent
by E-mail to web marager @incomtaxlndia. gov. in)

What to watch

The operative document is the notification and the agreement enclosed with this letter; the letter itself carries none of the treaty's terms, so nothing about rates or articles can be taken from it.
Effect in India runs from 1 April 2014, so a claim for an earlier period does not rest on this agreement.
The scan is a poor one - the notification and gazette numbers are mangled - so take the reference from the gazette itself rather than from this copy.

Where you meet it

On a treaty claim or a withholding certificate application involving a Uruguayan resident for a period from 1 April 2014.

A circular binds the department, not you and not a court. The Board issues a circular to its own officers. An assessee may hold the department to a circular that helps him; the department cannot hold an assessee to one that hurts him, and the Tribunal and the courts decide the law for themselves.

Source: the Income Tax Department’s own published text — its page for this instrument.