Vodafone representatives on Tuesday met top revenue officials in an attempt to resolve the Rs 11,200-crore tax liability issue relating to the British firm’s acquisition in 2007 of the Indian assets of Hutchison Whampoa.
Vodafone India’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Martin Pieters and non-executive chairman Analjit Singh held discussions with Revenue Secretary Sumit Bose and other officials, sources said. Vodafone is facing a tax liability in connection with the acquisition through a deal which was executed in the Cayman Islands in 2007.
The meeting follows a reminder notice by the revenue department to Vodafone earlier this month. The British telecom firm had replied to the notice saying it believed that no tax was liable for the 2007 deal. To this, the revenue department suggested that both sides negotiate and find a solution to the matter.
Meanwhile, Minister of Telecommunications Kapil Sibal said the government was ready to “collaborate” with Vodafone and look into its concerns on tax issues, after releasing Vodafone’s sustainability report for 2012. “I can assure Martin Pieters and other telecom operators that the government is very serious about the concerns they have expressed and I can give an assurance on Tuesday that 2013 will be a different year for the telecom sector,” Sibal said.
