Tax tops Vodafone board meet agenda

The board of GSM service provider Vodafone-Essar is expected to discuss the income tax issue at its meeting to be held on Friday.

The global chief executive officer, Arun Sarin of Vodafone, is also expected to attend the meeting.

The IT department had issued a show-cause notice to Vodafone-Essar asking why capital gains tax should not be levied on Vodafone's $11.1 billion deal, when the company acquired 67 per cent stake held by Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecommunications International in the erstwhile Hutchison-Essar.

Vodafone-Essar then filed a writ petition in the Bombay High Court challenging the right of the tax authorities to levy a capital gains tax on the deal. The first hearing of the petition is expected to come up on September 27.

According to the sources close to the development, other than the show-cause, the directors would take stock of the company's performance and discuss strategies to turn the company into a leading telecom player in the country.

When contacted, top executives of the company declined to comment.

They added that this was a routine three-month board meeting and no specific agenda had been set.