Vodafone moves SC on income-tax issue

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New Delhi: Telecom giant Vodafone has moved the Supreme Court challenging the Bombay High Court judgment, which had upheld the income-tax department's showcause notice asking it to pay income tax of about USD 2 billion over its acquisition of Hutchison.

The Bombay High Court on December 3 last year dismissed a petition by Vodafone International Holdings BV challenging a showcause notice by the income-tax department.

The company had bought a 67 per cent stake in Hutchison Essar from Hutchison Telecom International (HTIL) in February 2007 by paying $11.2 billion. The I-T department had asked the telecom major to pay $1.7 billion as capital gains tax for its acquisition of stake in Hutchison Essar (now Vodafone Essar) in its showcause notice on September 19, 2007.

However, the court had given it eight weeks to file an appeal in the Supreme Court and had continued its earlier stay asking the department not to proceed against Vodafone.

Vodafone had moved the Bombay High Court alleging that the tax department had no jurisdiction over a deal between two parties incorporated overseas.

Also, Vodafone had not directly acquired the shares of the India-incorporated Hutch-Essar.

The High Court had said that Vodafone's petition totally lacked "particulars as to the nature of agreement dated on February 11, 2007, and all other agreements preceding or following the same, entered into by Hutchison Telecommunications International (HTIL) and the petitioner (Vodafone International).