DOCUSIGN INC. vs THE INCOME TAX OFFICER, WARD INT. TAX 1(2)(2), CIVIC CENTRE NEW DELHI

Judgment text excerpt

$~85 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI % Date of decision: 24th February, 2026 + W.P.(C) 1334/2026 CM APPL. 6504-6505/2026 DOCUSIGN INC. .....Petitioner Through: Mr. Ajay Vohra, Sr. Adv. with Dr. Shashwat Bajpai & Mr. Mayank Chaturvedi, Adv. versus THE INCOME TAX OFFICER, WARD INT. TAX 1(2)(2), CIVIC CENTRE NEW DELHI .....Respondent Through: Mr. Puneet Rai, SSC CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE DINESH MEHTA HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE VINOD KUMAR JUDGMENT DINESH MEHTA, J. (Oral) 1. By way of present writ petition, the petitioner has challenged the order dated 11.08.2025 (mentioned as 15.04.2025), passed by the Office of Circle Int Tax 1(2)(2) (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Competent Authority’) so also the certificate dated 11.08.2025, whereby the competent authority has issued a tax withholding certificate at the rate of 4% under Section 197 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Act of 1961’). 2. As per the petitioner, it is a non-resident company and a tax resident of the United States of America (for short ‘USA’), with its principal place of business at San Francisco, California, USA. It is a software company that provides solutions for managing electronic agreements, including e- Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:NAVEEN KUMAR Signing Date:27.02.2026 W.P.(C) 1334/2026 Page 1 of 4 15:08:16 signature services, contract lifecycle management, document generation, and web forms. Such services are provided in India through the global distribution arrangements and direct sales arrangements. 3. Mr. Ajay Vohra, learned Senior Counsel for the petitioner submitted that in spite of the fact that the nature of transactions carried out by the petitioner with its Indian counterpart is clear and though there is neither any involvement of royalty or copyrig