Infosys to receive Rs 6,329 crore tax refund from I-T department

Infosys is expecting a refund of Rs 6,329 crore from the Income Tax Department, the country's second largest IT services company has said.

It also informed the stock exchanges about tax demand to the tune of Rs 2,763 crore, citing various assessment orders.

Infosys said it has received orders from the Income Tax Department for assessment years 07-08 to 15-16, 17-18, and 18-19 during the quarter.

"As per the orders, the company expects a refund of Rs 6,329 crore (including interest). The company is in the process of evaluating the implications of these orders on the financial statements for the quarter and year ending March 31, 2024," Infosys said in a BSE filing.

The Bengaluru-headquartered IT company also said it has received an order for assessment year 22-23 with a tax demand of Rs 2,763 crore, including interest, and for assessment year 11-12 with a tax demand of Rs 4 crore, interest included.

Infosys has received assessment orders for subsidiaries as well, totalling Rs 277 crore.

These include assessment orders for assessment years 21-22 and 18-19, respectively, with total tax demand of Rs 145 crore; order for assessment year 22-23 with a tax demand of Rs 127 crore; and for assessment year 22-23 entailing tax demand of Rs 5 crore -- all of them inclusive of interest.

"The company is in the process of evaluating the implications of these orders on the financial statements for the quarter and year ending March 31, 2024 and also evaluating filing appeals against these orders," Infosys said.

Further, a subsidiary of the company has received refund orders under Section 254 for assessment years 07-08 and 08-09 and under Section 154 for assessment year 16-17, it said, adding that the refund amount as per these orders is Rs 14 crore.

"The company is in the process of evaluating the implications of these orders on the financial statements for the quarter and year ending March 31, 2024. As on March 29, 2024, the above orders cumulatively exceed the materiality criteria as prescribed under Regulation 30 of the Listing Regulations (as amended), and accordingly this disclosure is submitted," Infosys said.

Infosys, which competes with Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, Cognizant and others for global IT services contracts, is scheduled to declare its financial results for the March quarter and full FY24, on April 18.

Recently, Accenture's subdued showing alongside lower outlook had dashed analysts' hopes for a demand recovery in 2024-25.

Accenture chopped its full-year revenue growth outlook to 1-3 per cent from 2-5 per cent it had guided for previously, sparking wide concerns that the road to recovery for tech services could be longer and tougher than originally anticipated.

For the December quarter, Infosys had reported a lower-than-expected 7.3 per cent fall in net profit on sluggish demand from clients and cut its annual sales forecast. The company posted a net profit (attributable to shareholders) of Rs 6,106 crore compared to Rs 6,586 crore in the year-ago period.

Infosys' consolidated revenue from operations increased 1.3 per cent to Rs 38,821 crore during the third quarter of FY24 from Rs 38,318 crore a year ago.