Govt To Press Ahead With Rs 40,000 Cr Tax Demand On Fiis: FM Arun Jaitley

BENGALURU: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said the government will press ahead with Rs 40,000 crore tax demand on foreign institutional investors as FIIs lost a case against levy of tax on capital gains they made.

"FIIs went to a tribunal, which is called Authority for Advance Rulings. They got a judgement against themselves.

"So, the tribunal has decided against them. The amount involved is 40,000 crore. I can change the face of India's irrigation with that 40,000 crore," he said.

The BJP government, Jaitley told a news channel, has abolished the MAT, but the demands pertain to tax related to earlier period and they wanted it to be waived.

"To which I responded and said 'we are reasonable, so for the future I have waived it. But the tax demand after winning the case, if I waive off, we will be like a tax haven ....how would be I answerable to Parliament that after the case I just waive 40,000 crore," he said.

On multi-billion dollar tax demands on Cairn Energy Plc of UK and Cairn India, Jaitley said the tax assessment orders were passed and demands were follow-up related notices.

"Since they are entitled to challenge in court, we will see what the courts decide," he said.

Talking about the initiatives taken by the new government, Jaitley said in the last one year no retrospective tax law has been brought and "not a single new notice has been issued. My only problem is with regards to legacy issues that I inherited from the previous government".

Jaitley also expressed hope that the bill for introduction of Goods and Services Tax will be passed in the coming session of Parliament.

He sounded confident that the new indirect tax regime would be put in place soon.

Jaitley said the GST will be the "single biggest" tax reform since independence.

On the land bill, he said "Sonia Gandhi's land bill" will keep rural India poor perpetually. He said the law passed by the UPA government says that land cannot be acquired for rural infrastructure.

The Finance Minister said the his government's amendment to the land will help rural India.
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