CHENNAI: The
Income tax (I-T) department probing the
Nokia
tax-evasion case has, in an interim report, said the company should pay
Rs 13,000 crore for tax and transfer-pricing violations.
A
senior Income-tax official, who requested anonymity, told ET, "We have
submitted a 150-page interim report to our office in Delhi," he noted.
"Nokia will have to pay Rs 13,000 crore before March 31." Of the
Rs
13,000 crore, Rs 3,000 crore is for tax violations and Rs 10,000 crore
for transfer pricing issues, the source said. Over the past few weeks,
officials from Nokia and audit firm Price Water and Company, the Indian
arm of Pricewaterhouse-Coopers, were being questioned in Chennai.
Earlier this month, the Income-tax Department raided the factory and
offices of the Finnish company's Indian subsidiary in what it called a
'survey' operation. Covered under this operation were its factory in
Sriperumbudur, near Chennai, and its offices in Gurgaon, Haryana.
The department has alleged that the company changed its accounting
policy and was also in the process of reorganising the existing business
model to bypass certain direct and indirect tax liabilities.
The department has also alleged that Nokia has not made tax payments for
software supplies. Two weeks ago, the income-tax department had said
that the role of audit firm Price Water and Company in relation to the
alleged tax defaults by handset manufacturer
Nokia India is also being probed.
A statement issued by Nokia said, "Nokia is fully cooperating with the
Indian tax authorities. We are duly responding to all queries raised by
them and extending our full support in completing the investigation."
The Nokia plant employs over 9,000 people, 55 per cent of whom are women.