By CFO World Online Bureau
The government has reached out to 17 companies to settle the retrospective tax lawsuits.
According to a media report, the government is making the first move and reaching out to 17 affected companies to withdraw cases from various judicial levels weeks after the Income Tax Act was amended to drop the retrospective taxation provision.
The rules under the Taxation Laws Amendment Act 2021, are expected this week. And the government has reached out to the companies to settle the retrospective tax lawsuits.
The government is said to have collected about INR 8,000 crore from three of the 17 companies — Rs 7,900 crore from Cairn Energy, Rs 44.7 crore from Vodafone, and Rs 48 crore from WNS Capital, which it has proposed to refund once certain conditions are met, including dropping the lawsuit and furnishing an undertaking that no claim for cost, damages, interest, etc. would be filed. This is a part of the Taxation Laws Amendment Act 2021
Following the directives of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman J B Mohapatra to jurisdictional officers, the companies that will benefit from the new amendment are to be approached.
“Instead of waiting for the other side to approach the government, the latter is approaching these companies to settle the cases. The government now wants their judicial closure. These cases are a big cost for the government too,” said an official according to the report.