 "Decision on filing review petition in Vodafone case by weekend")
**New Delhi:**The government is likely to takea decision by the end of the week on whether to file a reviewpetition on the Supreme Court verdict against a tax demand ofRs 11,000 crore in the Vodafone case, a top Finance Ministry
official said.
“We are studying the Supreme Court judgement and we willtake the final decision by this week,” the official said whenasked whether the government is considering filing a reviewpetition in the Vodafone case.
The Finance Ministry has earlier constituted a 10-member’core committee’, comprising senior officials of the taxdepartment, to study the Supreme Court judgement in theVodafone case.
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The committee, headed by Director General InternationalTaxation (DGIT) RN Dash, has deliberated on the issue andsubmitted a preliminary report to the Central Board of DirectTaxes (CBDT).
In a judgement that will have wide implications, theSupreme Court last week had set aside the Bombay High Court’sdecision that had favoured the Income Tax Department.
The I-T department had raised a demand of Rs 11,000 croretax from Vodafone International Holdings following itsacquisition of interests in Hutchinson- Essar Limited in 2007overseas.In the ruling, the apex court had also asked the IncomeTax Department to return Rs 2,500 crore deposited by Vodafone
International Holdings within two months along with 4 percent
interest.
The Supreme Court decision will have implications onsimilar cross-border deals where the companies have not paidcapital tax gains.In view of the Supreme Court judgement, the Essar Groupis reportedly contemplating to seek refund of USD 883 million,the amount deducted as withholding tax related to 22 percentstake sale by its Mauritius entities in Vodafone Essar, fromthe Income Tax Department.
PTI