U.S. Embassy School In India Caught In Diplomatic Spat: NYT

NEW YORK: In the wake of the Indo-U.S. diplomatic spat over the arrest of Devyani Khobragade, Indian officials probing the working of an American Embassy school in New Delhi were "outraged" to find that it had adopted several "tax-avoidance" schemes, a media report said.

The New York Times said in a report that administrators at the American Embassy School have "quietly admitted" that the school undertook a variety of tax-avoidance schemes for years, including one in which they instructed some female teachers whose husbands also worked at the school to list their occupations on visa applications as "housewife".

"The more the Indians looked, the more outraged they became," the NYT report, coming in the wake of the resignation of U.S. ambassador to India Nancy Powell, said.

Given the revelations about the school, Indian officials are refusing to renew teacher visas till the case is resolved. This has resulted in nearly 20 teachers at the school leaving in recent weeks.

The report said that unless the issue is resolved, nearly a quarter of the school's teaching staff could be forced to leave before classes end in June.

"If the controversy remains unsettled into the fall, the school widely considered one of the best international schools in the world and a key recruiting tool here could close," it added.

As a solution, school officials have proposed raising fees for the next school year by a third to become tax compliant, besides proposing that an additional $5,000 be charged for students needing remedial help in English instruction.

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