Nokia protests against new $414 million tax claim

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finland's Nokia on Friday said it had received a new 300 million euro sales tax claim from a regional authority in India, adding that it considered the claim "absurd".

Nokia told Reuters it had filed a writ to protest Tamil Nadu authority that claimed that handsets produced in the company's Chennai plant were not exported but instead sold in India.

"Nokia considers the claim to be completely without merit and counter to domestic tax laws," the company said, and added the new claim had nothing to do with the closing of its deal to sell its phone business to Microsoft .

 

India's Supreme Court last week in a broader tax dispute ordered Nokia to give a 35 billion Indian rupee guarantee before it transfers the Chennai plant to Microsoft.

(Reporting By Jussi Rosendahl)