Vodafone group chief executive officer Vittorio Colao on Tuesday met finance minister Pranab Mukherjee to discuss the fallout of the retrospective tax proposed in the Union Budget.
According to finance ministry sources, Colao sought tax exemptions from the finance minister.
Speaking to the minister, Colao said the telecom company had no intention to evade tax, and was only following the legal advice it had been given.
Mr Mukherjee had proposed a capital gains tax for overseas deals involving assets in India, a move that has left foreign investors anxious about coming to India.
Vodafone Group Plc had in 2007 acquired Hutchison Essar in an overseas deal worth $11.1 billion. Subsequently, India’s Income Tax Department said that the deal was liable to capital gains tax worth $2.2 billion. Vodafone challenged the order all the way to the Supreme Court, which in January ruled in the telecom operator’s favour. The Union Budget proposal came on March 16.
On March 20, the apex court also dismissed a government review petition.
The proposed tax rule has worried foreign investors, who say such a law creates uncertainty in the investor community.
Mark Mobius, one of the world’s leading emerging markets investor, on Tuesday said India is faltering as an investment destination because of significant policy mistakes and stock prices here would slide if the nation's credit rating is cut.
"The Indian government has been making many, many big policy mistakes. The most important of all is the idea of having retroactive taxation," said Mr. Mobius, executive chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets Group.
N. Chandrasekaran, managing director and CEO of TCS, on Monday told NDTV that the government's new tax proposals have impacted India's image as an investment destination.
Vodafone has challenged the tax proposal. In April, it served the Indian government with a notice of dispute regarding the proposal to retrospectively tax overseas transactions and said it was considering arbitration proceedings.
It said the notice had been served by its Dutch subsidiary and was the first step prior to the launch of international arbitration under the Bilateral Investment Treaty, an agreement between India and the Netherlands.
At the time, it said that the 2012 finance bill proposals violated international legal protections granted to Vodafone and other foreign investors in India.
"Vodafone has asked the Indian government to abandon or suitably to amend the retrospective aspects of the proposed legislation as Vodafone would prefer to reach an amicable solution to this matter," the company said.
Vodafone group chief executive officer Vittorio Colao on Tuesday met finance minister Pranab Mukherjee to discuss the fallout of the retrospective tax proposed in the Union Budget.
According to finance ministry sources, Colao sought tax exemptions from the finance minister.
Speaking to the minister, Colao said the telecom company had no intention to evade tax, and was only following the legal advice it had been given.
Mr Mukherjee had proposed a capital gains tax for overseas deals involving assets in India, a move that has left foreign investors anxious about coming to India.
Vodafone Group Plc had in 2007 acquired Hutchison Essar in an overseas deal worth $11.1 billion. Subsequently, India’s Income Tax Department said that the deal was liable to capital gains tax worth $2.2 billion. Vodafone challenged the order all the way to the Supreme Court, which in January ruled in the telecom operator’s favour. The Union Budget proposal came on March 16.
On March 20, the apex court also dismissed a government review petition.
The proposed tax rule has worried foreign investors, who say such a law creates uncertainty in the investor community.
Mark Mobius, one of the world’s leading emerging markets investor, on Tuesday said India is faltering as an investment destination because of significant policy mistakes and stock prices here would slide if the nation's credit rating is cut.
"The Indian government has been making many, many big policy mistakes. The most important of all is the idea of having retroactive taxation," said Mr. Mobius, executive chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets Group.
N. Chandrasekaran, managing director and CEO of TCS, on Monday told NDTV that the government's new tax proposals have impacted India's image as an investment destination.
Vodafone has challenged the tax proposal. In April, it served the Indian government with a notice of dispute regarding the proposal to retrospectively tax overseas transactions and said it was considering arbitration proceedings.
It said the notice had been served by its Dutch subsidiary and was the first step prior to the launch of international arbitration under the Bilateral Investment Treaty, an agreement between India and the Netherlands.
At the time, it said that the 2012 finance bill proposals violated international legal protections granted to Vodafone and other foreign investors in India.
"Vodafone has asked the Indian government to abandon or suitably to amend the retrospective aspects of the proposed legislation as Vodafone would prefer to reach an amicable solution to this matter," the company said.
Vodafone group chief executive officer Vittorio Colao on Tuesday met finance minister Pranab Mukherjee to discuss the fallout of the retrospective tax proposed in the Union Budget.
According to finance ministry sources, Colao sought tax exemptions from the finance minister.
Speaking to the minister, Colao said the telecom company had no intention to evade tax, and was only following the legal advice it had been given.
Mr Mukherjee had proposed a capital gains tax for overseas deals involving assets in India, a move that has left foreign investors anxious about coming to India.
Vodafone Group Plc had in 2007 acquired Hutchison Essar in an overseas deal worth $11.1 billion. Subsequently, India’s Income Tax Department said that the deal was liable to capital gains tax worth $2.2 billion. Vodafone challenged the order all the way to the Supreme Court, which in January ruled in the telecom operator’s favour. The Union Budget proposal came on March 16.
On March 20, the apex court also dismissed a government review petition.
The proposed tax rule has worried foreign investors, who say such a law creates uncertainty in the investor community.
Mark Mobius, one of the world’s leading emerging markets investor, on Tuesday said India is faltering as an investment destination because of significant policy mistakes and stock prices here would slide if the nation's credit rating is cut.
"The Indian government has been making many, many big policy mistakes. The most important of all is the idea of having retroactive taxation," said Mr. Mobius, executive chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets Group.
N. Chandrasekaran, managing director and CEO of TCS, on Monday told NDTV that the government's new tax proposals have impacted India's image as an investment destination.
Vodafone has challenged the tax proposal. In April, it served the Indian government with a notice of dispute regarding the proposal to retrospectively tax overseas transactions and said it was considering arbitration proceedings.
It said the notice had been served by its Dutch subsidiary and was the first step prior to the launch of international arbitration under the Bilateral Investment Treaty, an agreement between India and the Netherlands.
At the time, it said that the 2012 finance bill proposals violated international legal protections granted to Vodafone and other foreign investors in India.
"Vodafone has asked the Indian government to abandon or suitably to amend the retrospective aspects of the proposed legislation as Vodafone would prefer to reach an amicable solution to this matter," the company said.
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