I-T dept slaps notice on Mahindra Satyam

The income tax (I-T) department has slapped draft notices on Mahindra Satyam demanding payment of Rs 1,037.69 crore and Rs 1,075.73 crore for the 2002-03 and 2007-08 assessment years respectively.

The draft orders, received from the additional commissioner of I-T, proposes disallowance of tax exemptions and deductions claimed by the Hyderabad-headquartered IT consulting and outsourcing company. The draft, however, does not exclude fictitious income wrongly offered to tax by the earlier management.

In a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange, Mahindra Satyam said the existence of fictitious sales and fictitious interest had even been confirmed by other central agencies.

The company has, in several writ petitions filed before the Andhra Pradesh High Court, challenged the re-opening of the assessment for 2002-03 and sought directions that fresh assessments be carried out after removing the fictitious sales and fictitious interest. These petitions are pending before the high court, Mahindra Satyam said.