Vodafone moves SC over Rs12,000-crore tax claim
14 Sep 2010
Vodafone International Holdings BV, a unit of Vodafone Group plc, today said it has filed an appeal with the Supreme Court on the Mumbai High Court's ruling last week that the company is liable to pay capital gains tax in India over its cross-border merger.
The high court had dismissed the company's petition that challenged a tax claim of around Rs12,000 crore (about $2.6 billion) over its acquisition of Hutchison Wampoa's majority stake in Indian telecom firm Hutch Essar in 2007.
The court, in its order of 8 September, had ruled that the income tax department has the jurisdiction to levy tax on Vodafone's $11 billion deal with Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa to buy its stake in Indian telecom joint venture Hutch Essar.
"Vodafone remains convinced that there is no tax to pay on the Hutchison transaction and we will continue to defend this position vigorously," the company said in a statement.
The income tax department had staked a Rs12,000-crore tax claim on Vodafone over its acquisition of Hutchison Whampoa's wireless operations in India.
The Bombay High Court ruled that the Indian tax authorities have the jurisdiction to demand tax on the Vodafone International deal.