Charges Received by Amazon Web Services for Cloud Computing not Taxable as ‘Equipment Royalty’ under India-US DTAA: Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court ruled that AWS cloud computing fees aren't taxable as equipment royalty under the India-US tax treaty, providing clarity on digital service taxation. The court held that payments made for standard cloud computing services, where the customer merely accesses and uses software/infrastructure without having control or possession over the underlying equipment, do not constitute "royalty" under Article 12 of the India-US Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement. This provides significant relief to businesses utilizing cloud services.