Category: Hutchison

Delhi High Court refuses to stop Vodafone’s UK arbitration

MUMBAI, MAY 7 The Delhi High Court has refused to stop the arbitration filed by Vodafone Plc in the UK against the ₹22,000-crore tax claim by the Indian tax department. The court said that the Centre can approach the UK arbitration tribunal under the India-United Kingdom Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement… – Continue reading

India slaps tax demand on Hutchison for Vodafone deal

India’s income-tax department has raised a tax demand for Hutchison’s capital gains during its sale of India mobile business to Vodafone in 2007 India’s income-tax department has now trained its guns on Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd (HTIL) in connection with its alleged capital gains during the US$ 11-billion… – Continue reading

Untangling the complex web of tax laws

Notwithstanding the NDA’s election promise to end tax terrorism the dynamics on the ground belie easy fixes The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is seeking to prepare a road map to reduce existing tax litigation and look into increasing pecuniary threshold limits to discourage tax departments from launching new cases…. – Continue reading

India $6.4 Billion Back-Tax Claim Fails to Dent Foreign Inflows

As foreign portfolio investors balk at India’s claim of $6.4 billion in back taxes, the finance ministry’s latest demand isn’t damping interest in the nation’s stocks and bonds. Foreigners were net buyers of local equities every day barring one since the finance ministry said April 6 it is well within… – Continue reading

Here’s one budget proposal that may bring back Vodafone-like horrors for foreign cos

The Finance Bill 2015 (the Bill) has quietly slipped in an amendment that could engender a fresh set of disputes with foreign companies away from the hitherto transfer pricing hair-splitting. Hitherto, all Indian companies were residents and all foreign companies were non-resident, period. Of course foreign companies would have become… – Continue reading

Retrotax returns: $1.6 billion tax demand on Cairn is likely to be a Vodafone redux

There is a sense of déjà vu in tax and legal circles. Vodafone bought itself into Hutch’s Indian telecom operations by acquiring controlling interest in a Cayman Island company that called the shots in the Indian company hitherto controlled by Hutchison Hong Kong. The tax authorities slapped a notice on… – Continue reading

No respite for Vodafone as Arun Jaitley maintains status quo on past offshore deals

British mobile giant Vodafone hasn’t been bailed out, with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley maintaining status quo on taxing past offshore deals. However, foreign investors can draw comfort as tax will be charged in India only on certain offshore deals where the underlying asset and the value derived thereon are in… – Continue reading

Hong Kong firm financing owners of 3 mobile network had secret tax deal

Hutchison Whampoa had profit of €429.6m but paid just €65,067 tax in Luxembourg A Luxembourg company that provides indirect financial support to 3 Ireland, is among the latest batch of entities found to be availing of secret tax deals in Luxembourg. Hutchison Whampoa Europe Investments Sarl (HWEI) – part of… – Continue reading

Vodafone Vs I-T dept: ITAT rules in favour of tax dept

This transfer pricing dispute arose from transactions involving Vodafone in 2007-08. The I-T department had red flagged the sale of call centre business to Hutchison Whampoa Properties India and the assignment of Call Options. n the latest from Vodafone’s Rs 8,500 crore trasfer pricing case versus the Income Tax department,… – Continue reading

Finance ministry seeks early disposal of Vodafone transfer pricing case

NEW DELHI: The finance ministry will soon write to British telecom major Vodafone to press the company to seek an early decision from the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) in the Rs 8,500-crore transfer pricing case. The Union Cabinet had, on February 28, directed the finance ministry to wait for the… – Continue reading

B K Syngal writes that Vodafone tax evasion case and its historical FDI pattern is a classical example of crony capitalism

Much brouhaha has been created by the recent reports about the Vodafone Tax case with respect to whether or not a capital gains tax is due from them on the purchase of assets in India. New lexicon has been created for the uninitiated – “tax avoidance” versus “tax evasion”; “look… – Continue reading

Indo-Netherlands BIPA pact doesn’t cover taxation: FinMin

New Delhi: The Income Tax department has rebutted Vodafone’s notice under BIPA saying that the pact between India and Netherlands does not cover taxation issues. “Tax department has sent its response to Vodafone saying BIPA does not cover tax issues,” an official source said. The response to the Bilateral Investment… – Continue reading