British High Commissioner to India Richard Stagg today said telecom operator Vodafone should not be made pay the proposed Rs 11,000 crore tax from its deal with Hutchinson Essar as it had not made any “capital gains”.
“We believe that Vodafone have not made capital gain, which would attract the proposed tax. But these issues are lying in the Indian Supreme Court, we respect the court of land … but we have an opinion,” Stagg told reporters here.
In 2007, Vodafone, through its group firm Vodafone International Holdings, had bought Hutchison India’s 67 per cent stake in Hutchison Essar joint venture for about USD 11 billion (Rs 55,000 crore).
The tax authorities claim that the deal attracts a tax of over Rs 11,000 crore, even though the deal was done by two MNCs outside the country.
The IT department fixed tax liability of Rs 11,217.
