'Nokia's I-T dues: Rs 21,153 cr'

Company denies getting official notice

The Income Tax Department has told the high court here that Nokia India and Nokia Corporation owe it Rs 21,153 crore as total tax liability (existing and anticipated), including penalty during a seven-year period from 2006 to 2013.

The amount payable by Nokia has been arrived at by the I-T department on the basis that the mobile manufacturing firm does not discharge its TDS liability on royalty payments and is not entitled to any deduction under tax laws for operating from a special economic zone (SEZ).

The submission has been made by the I-T department in its reply to Nokia’s plea for unfreezing of its assets in India prior to its $7.2 billion deal with Microsoft.

 

Nokia’s Director, Communications, Poonam Kaul, said, “We have not been served with any official claim, so we cannot comment on this. We want to stress that our main focus right now is to remove the freeze on our Indian assets, including Chennai, before the deadline of December 12. This is a separate matter from the broader tax dispute. In recent months we have seen and read about many claims from the tax authorities. We feel they are without merit and will defend ourselves vigorously in court.”

Nokia’s offer to pay a minimum of Rs 2,250 crore, which could increase depending upon the outcome of its deal with Microsoft, was recently turned down by the I-T department during the proceedings before the high court.