What is the India–Belgium treaty withholding rate on royalties and fees for technical services?

Royalty: 10% of the gross amount — Article 12 (combined 'Royalties and Fees for Technical Services' article), India–Belgium DTAA (as amended through 20 Aug 2026). Equipment-use royalties sit inside the royalty definition and take the same 10%. FTS: 10% — Article 12 (same article as royalties; definition in Art 12(3)(b)). Make-available (or the lower rate) was claimed only through the MFN protocol — DENIED without a s.159(1)/s.90(1) notification since Nestlé SA (2023 INSC 928). MFN CAUTION: Protocol clause 1 'Ad Articles 5, 7 and 12' (verbatim from Belgian govt primary text): 'If under any Convention or Agreement between India and a third State being a member of the OECD which enters into force after 1st January, 1990, India limits its taxation on royalties or fees for technical services to a rate lower or a scope more restricted than the rate or scope provided for in the present Agreement on the said items of income, the same rate or scope as provided for in that Convention or Agreement on the said items of income shall also apply under the present Agreement...' The RATE limb was already given effect (20%→10%, notified consolidated text, effective 1998, via India–Sweden), so Nestlé does not disturb the rate. The SCOPE limb (make-available via India–Portugal) was never separately notified under s.90(1) — after AO v. Nestlé SA (SC 2023) that claim is exposed, so mfn.affected=true for the scope restriction. Gate: the treaty rate applies only through s.393(2) Sl. No. 17 → s.2(90)(c) with the s.159(8) TRC + Form 10F gate met; domestic comparator 20% + surcharge/cess (s.207(2)). Notes: fts-and-royalty-in-single-combined-article-12; equipment-royalty-inside-royalty-definition-no-separate-rate; treaty-text-rate-was-20-reduced-to-10-by-self-operative-MFN-clause-later-notified; make-available-only-via-unnotified-MFN-portugal-scope-claim-post-Nestle-risk; 2017-protocol-entered-force-2025-EOI-only.