In a recent decision of the Indian ITAT, a Swiss company had performed work for installing geo-composite membrane at a hydro power project in India. The duration of the Swiss company’s activities during the relevant tax year was 40 days. The Indian tax authorities rejected the Swiss company’s claim that it did not have a permanent establishment (PE) in India and, therefore, its income was not taxable in India. The ITAT held that the Swiss company had a fixed place PE in and dependent agency PE in India under the tax treaty between India and Switzerland. With due respect to the ITAT, it seems that this decision is difficult to reconcile for the reasons explained below.