Nokia slams India tax raid as ?excessive?

Nokia is a Finland-based company making forays into India

FINNISH phone giant Nokia said on Tuesday (February 12) it had protested to the Indian government over a tax raid at one of its factories in South India, slamming the action as ?excessive and unacceptable?.

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Officials last month raided one of Nokia?s manufacturing units in Chennai as part of an investigation into tax department suspicions that it may have evaded taxes totalling Rs30bn ($545m/?348.12m).

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Nokia, which strongly denies evading any taxes, said it had sent a ?letter of objection? to Indian tax authorities.

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?The actions of the income tax authorities in Chennai are excessive, unacceptable and inconsistent with Indian standards of fair play and governance,? Nokia said in a statement.

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India - one of the world?s fastest growing mobile phone markets - is Nokia?s second-largest market, with the Chennai factory producing over 20 different models for the company.

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Nokia said it has yet to receive ?any official information? on potential tax claims by the Indian government.

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?We do not see any merit in any of the claims, and are ready to defend ourselves vigorously,? the company said.

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Nokia is not the only multinational firm facing a tax probe in India whose tax policies have caused deep concern among international business investors.

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Last week, Anglo-Dutch oil major Royal Dutch Shell?s Indian unit announced it would contest a local tax claim on a share sale.

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British mobile network firm Vodafone is fighting a multi-billion-dollar tax bill from Indian tax authorities over its 2007 purchase of a stake in a domestic telecommunications company.

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Vodafone maintains it is not liable to pay any tax on the transaction.

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India?s finance minister P Chidambaram has vowed to clamp down on tax evasion to help to lower the country?s ballooning fiscal deficit.

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At the same time, he has said he wants India to have a ?stable tax regime with clarity on tax laws? and for authorities to have a ?non-adversarial? approach to tax collection.

Source: http://www.gg2.net/business/india-business/Nokia+slams+India+tax+raid+as+‘excessive’/4296

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