Cabinet approves conciliation to resolve Vodafone tax issue

Seeking to resolve the long- standing tax dispute with Vodafone, the Cabinet today approved a proposal for non-binding conciliation with the British telecom major, the outcome of which will ultimately be vetted by Parliament.
"We (have) accepted the offer of Vodafone to enter into a non-binding conciliation. The outcome of the non-binding conciliation will be brought back to the Cabinet.
"If both sides (Vodafone and the government) agree on the outcome of the non-binding conciliation then the matter will be taken to Parliament by an amendment to the Income Tax Act," Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters after the meeting of the Cabinet.

Vodafone had been asked to pay Rs 11,200 crore tax on its 2007 acquisition of Hutchison Whampoa's stake in Hutchison Essar. The demand included Rs 3,300 crore of interest over delayed payment.
The conciliation will be under the Indian arbitration law and not under the UNCITRAL as sought by Vodafone. The company did not offer any comment immediately.
Chidambaram, however, did not say if the tax demand will be stayed during the pendancy of conciliation.

"The tax demand has already been made so whatever the status of tax demand today will continue ... Cabinet has approved that conciliator can be appointed. We will go with the names to Prime Minister", he said.

The Minister said that no timeframe has been set for conclusion of the conciliation proceeding, but added that government would communicate today's cabinet decision to Vodafone in a day or two.
The Supreme Court last year had ruled in Vodafone's favour, saying the British company was not liable to pay any tax over its 2007 acquisition of mobile phone assets in India.
But the government later in the year changed the rules to enable it to make retroactive tax claims on already-concluded deals, drawing criticism from global business groups.