Treaty detail
United States - India tax treaty
A practical treaty page built around the official treaty text, key withholding categories, permanent-establishment rules, and article-level summaries.
Signed
1989-09-12
Effective
1990-12-18
Articles seeded
6
Withholding snapshot
Dividends
Individual rate: 25% · Corporate rate: 15%
Treaty dividend ceilings differ by direct-ownership level. The lower 15 percent rate generally requires a direct-ownership threshold under the treaty; the higher 25 percent rate applies to other qualifying dividends.
Interest
Rate: 15%
The 15 percent general ceiling can be reduced to 10 percent for specified categories of interest under the article (for example, certain bank and financial-institution interest). Government and central-bank interest may obtain better treatment.
Royalties
Rate: 15%
The treaty includes a distinctive Fees-for-Included-Services (FIS) regime that treats certain technical-services payments under the royalty rules. Royalty rates generally sit at 10 to 15 percent depending on category.
Permanent establishment
Construction threshold: more than 120 days
The treaty includes broader dependent-agent and stock-of-goods rules than several other U.S. treaties, with a particular focus on India-source secondment and back-office fact patterns.
Other treaty flags
Pension treatment is article-specific. The India treaty distinguishes pensions from social-security-style payments, and the latter has separate rules.
Seeded article summaries
Article 4
Residence
Defines treaty residence for U.S.-India purposes and includes tie-breaker tests for dual residents.
Article 4 is especially important under the India treaty because residence analysis interacts with India's domestic Place-of-Effective-Management (POEM) rules and with treaty-qualification requirements that affect FIS and royalty positions.
Article 5
Permanent Establishment
Sets the PE threshold, including construction and a distinctive service-PE rule.
The India treaty includes a service-PE provision that can create a permanent establishment based on the furnishing of services for more than 90 days within a twelve-month period. The classic 120-day construction rule under the treaty is also notable compared with the standard 12-month threshold in many other U.S. treaties.
Article 7
Business Profits
Generally reserves business profits to the residence state in the absence of a permanent establishment.
Article 7 is the operating rule for cross-border services, but its protective effect for India-source income is often limited by the FIS regime and the service-PE rule in Article 5.
Article 10
Dividends
Caps source-country withholding on dividends at treaty ceilings that vary with shareholding.
Article 10 produces the 25 percent and 15 percent results in IRS Treaty Table 1, with the lower rate dependent on a direct-ownership threshold. India's domestic dividend withholding rules add additional complexity.
Article 11
Interest
Limits source-country withholding on qualifying interest under the treaty.
Article 11 produces general 15 percent and reduced 10 percent ceilings depending on category. Certain government, central-bank, and qualifying-financial-institution interest can obtain better treatment under the article.
Article 12
Royalties and Fees-for-Included-Services
Combines royalties and a distinctive Fees-for-Included-Services regime.
Article 12 is one of the most-litigated articles in the India context because of the FIS regime, which treats certain technical or consultancy services with a 'make-available' element under royalty-style ceilings. The 15 percent and 10 percent FIS rates depend on category and on the make-available standard.
Official text
Other treaties involving these jurisdictions
Computed from the cross-reference graph. Links open the related entity on this site.
This entry cites
- TreatyUS–GB treaty
- TreatyUS–CA treaty
- TreatyUS–DE treaty
- TreatyUS–FR treaty
- TreatyUS–JP treaty
- TreatyUS–NL treaty
- TreatyUS–AU treaty
- TreatyUS–KR treaty
Primary sources
- IRS India treaty documents pageVerified 2026-05-20
- Official U.S.-India treaty PDFVerified 2026-05-20
- IRS Tax Treaty Table 1Verified 2026-05-20
- Income Tax Department of India - DTAA listVerified 2026-05-20
Important disclaimer
This library is for general tax education only. Always verify filing obligations, due dates, and tax consequences against the cited primary source or with a qualified tax professional.