Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday said that the retrospective amendments to the tax laws meant to target overseas deals involving local assets were only guided by the advice of the Supreme Court, and assured that none of the earlier cases that had been finalized would be opened.
Speaking in Delhi at an event, the minister said that all cases that had been finalized by April 1, 2012 would not be reopened, bringing relief to the domestic as well as the international community.
The minister also said pressed on the need for litigation in tax cases to be as low as possible, adding that cases involving Rs 2.40 trillion were pending in high courts, income tax appellate tribunals and other commissions. He called upon the income tax department to dispose of the cases at the earliest.
The finance minister, in the Union Budget for 2012-13, had moved a proposal to retrospectively tax overseas deals that involved assets in India. Under the proposal, Vodafone group would have to pay capital gains tax of $2.2 billion for its 2007 acquisition of Hutchison Essar. Separately, India’s Supreme Court had rejected the government’s argument that the deal was subject to Indian tax law.
British telecom operator Vodafone Group has served the Indian government with a notice of dispute regarding the retrospective tax proposal. It has claimed that the 2012 finance bill proposals violated international legal protections granted to Vodafone and other foreign investors in India.
It has filed a tax arbitration petition under the Netherland BIPA (Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Act) through its subsidiary there.
However, Finance Secretary R S Gujral earlier said that there is "no question of the government negotiating with any company".
"As per statute, certain levies are leviable or not, there is no question of government negotiating," he told NDTV Profit in an interview earlier this month.
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday said that the retrospective amendments to the tax laws meant to target overseas deals involving local assets were only guided by the advice of the Supreme Court, and assured that none of the earlier cases that had been finalized would be opened.
Speaking in Delhi at an event, the minister said that all cases that had been finalized by April 1, 2012 would not be reopened, bringing relief to the domestic as well as the international community.
The minister also said pressed on the need for litigation in tax cases to be as low as possible, adding that cases involving Rs 2.40 trillion were pending in high courts, income tax appellate tribunals and other commissions. He called upon the income tax department to dispose of the cases at the earliest.
The finance minister, in the Union Budget for 2012-13, had moved a proposal to retrospectively tax overseas deals that involved assets in India. Under the proposal, Vodafone group would have to pay capital gains tax of $2.2 billion for its 2007 acquisition of Hutchison Essar. Separately, India’s Supreme Court had rejected the government’s argument that the deal was subject to Indian tax law.
British telecom operator Vodafone Group has served the Indian government with a notice of dispute regarding the retrospective tax proposal. It has claimed that the 2012 finance bill proposals violated international legal protections granted to Vodafone and other foreign investors in India.
It has filed a tax arbitration petition under the Netherland BIPA (Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Act) through its subsidiary there.
However, Finance Secretary R S Gujral earlier said that there is "no question of the government negotiating with any company".
"As per statute, certain levies are leviable or not, there is no question of government negotiating," he told NDTV Profit in an interview earlier this month.
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday said that the retrospective amendments to the tax laws meant to target overseas deals involving local assets were only guided by the advice of the Supreme Court, and assured that none of the earlier cases that had been finalized would be opened.
Speaking in Delhi at an event, the minister said that all cases that had been finalized by April 1, 2012 would not be reopened, bringing relief to the domestic as well as the international community.
The minister also said pressed on the need for litigation in tax cases to be as low as possible, adding that cases involving Rs 2.40 trillion were pending in high courts, income tax appellate tribunals and other commissions. He called upon the income tax department to dispose of the cases at the earliest.
The finance minister, in the Union Budget for 2012-13, had moved a proposal to retrospectively tax overseas deals that involved assets in India. Under the proposal, Vodafone group would have to pay capital gains tax of $2.2 billion for its 2007 acquisition of Hutchison Essar. Separately, India’s Supreme Court had rejected the government’s argument that the deal was subject to Indian tax law.
British telecom operator Vodafone Group has served the Indian government with a notice of dispute regarding the retrospective tax proposal. It has claimed that the 2012 finance bill proposals violated international legal protections granted to Vodafone and other foreign investors in India.
It has filed a tax arbitration petition under the Netherland BIPA (Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Act) through its subsidiary there.
However, Finance Secretary R S Gujral earlier said that there is "no question of the government negotiating with any company".
"As per statute, certain levies are leviable or not, there is no question of government negotiating," he told NDTV Profit in an interview earlier this month.
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