Nokia Chennai Factory Raided By Tax Officials
Bangalore: Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia turned out to be the pinpoint of a tax scandal as a team of Indian Income Tax officials raided its manufacturing plant near Chennai to probe charges of alleged tax evasion.
The Nokia spokesperson on a statement said, “Earlier today, tax officials visited Nokia’s manufacturing unit in Chennai. Nokia is fully cooperating to ensure they get the necessary information to help in their inquiry. We always observe applicable laws and rulings in the countries where we operate.”
S.Sentharamai Kannan, Chief Income Tax Commissioner of Chennai told the media that officials had conducted a “survey” of Nokia’s factory suspecting tax evasion of about 3000 crore.
Considering the fact that India is one of the world’s fastest growing mobile phone markets, Nokia holds the second largest position in the country with the Chennai unit producing over 20 different models for the company.
According to the media reports, a senior Income Tax official stated that, “We just started investigation and cannot reveal much on it. We have some information that they are not deducting tax on the payments that they are making to the parent company in Finland. Based on that we have started this survey and if our expectation is correct, then it will result in about 2,500-3000 crore of tax collection for past seven years, 2005 onwards.”
Apart from Nokia, British mobile network company, Vodafone also faces a tax probe where it received a notice from the Indian tax officials stating that it owes more than $2 billion in taxes during its purchase of a stake in a domestic telecommunications company in 2007.
