SpiceJet under lens for alleged I-T breaches

The company declined to reveal the amount due by the airline to the I-T Department

Low-cost airline SpiceJet is under the scanner of the income tax (I-T) department for suspected violations of TDS (tax deducted at source) and non-distribution of Form-16 to its employees, a Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) official said on Friday.

“Action is to recover the tax, then penal interest and some penalty will be there," CBDT Chairman K V Chowdary told reporters here.

He was responding to queries on reports of non-disbursement of Form-16 by the Kalanithi Maran-controlled loss-making carrier.

Chowdary declined to reveal the due from the airline to the I-T department.

A SpiceJet spokesperson had said: "These matters are privileged and cannot be discussed in the media."

The department is currently looking into "violations of TDS", Chowdary said.

Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has also ordered an engineering audit of the airline after the carrier is said to have found it difficult to provide equipment to operate some flights.

Replying to a query on Nokia tax issue, Chowdary said it was pending before courts and assessing officials of the I-T Department.

"The (Nokia) matter is partly still pending before court and partly pending before the assessing officers. If there are no stays by any court before the end of this year all the assessments will be completed," the taxman said. Nokia, which completed sale of its handset business to Microsoft for over $7.2 billion, could not sell its Chennai manufacturing plant to the software giant as it is embroiled in a tax dispute with the I-T Department and the Tamil Nadu government.