Nokia has informed today via press note that they have filed a writ to the Madras High Court to contest a claim from the Tamil Nadu tax department, which has moved to assess sales tax on the export of devices from the company’s Chennai facility.
According to Nokia, the claim of Tamil Nadu tax department is completely without merit and counter to domestic tax laws. In India, exports are by law exempt from tax, and Nokia has proved consistently that devices produced at Chennai are exported abroad. Indeed, the company has been regularly assessed and audited by the tax authorities since 2006 without incident, and it has also won numerous export awards from governmental organisations.
Nokia further claims that it is absurd that the Tamil Nadu tax authority is now claiming that devices made in Chennai were not exported and were instead sold domestically in India. Nokia has contended that this allegation has no basis in reality whatsoever; it could easily be rebuffed by a check of documentation provided to various governmental departments including Customs. Nokia will defend itself vigorously in this matter.
We wish to add that the cases like Nokia and Vodafone have vitiated the atmosphere of foreign investment in India. The reputed companies now shudder at the thought of investing in India because of archaic laws of the land and harassing the overseas companies on flimsy grounds. We stand by the claim of Nokia and hope that better sense will prevail and the next government will be more friendly towards the muti national companies and give them fair chance to do business in India.
