Amazon, Microsoft and Apple to seek clarity on Google tax

After I-T tribunal ruling, global majors worried taxmen could invoke GAAR for using patents held abroad

Online firms are planning to meet finance ministry officials this week to seek clarity on the applicability of general anti-avoidance rules (GAAR) in cases where the websites use patents based out of an offshore jurisdiction. 

The move comes after the recent Bengaluru Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) judgment against Google India, asking it to pay up taxes on Rs 1,457 crore of income that the Indian arm had transferred to its Ireland unit pertaining to Google’s AdWords service, used by advertisers to display ads. 

Lawyers preparing the representation say having intellectual property (IP) in a country like Ireland was only