Apple to meet Indian officials to seek tax concessions

The US-based iPhone maker Apple will on Wednesday meet Commerce and other ministries’ officials to seek tax concessions for setting up stores in India. Apple officials on Tuesday met Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to discuss “the issues”. “They (Apple) are putting their demands and the government has to consider. It has to take 360 degree view, as others (foreign companies) are already here. They want some tax concessions and all,” sources in the Commerce Ministry told IANS. “In this case maybe they are asking for more and let’s see how it goes.” “They (Apple) met the minister (Sitharaman) yesterday (Tuesday). Both the parties discussed the issues. Today (Wednesday) they are meeting all the other ministry officials. Nothing is being talked about. They have a list of demands that will be shared,” the source added. However, the ministry officials believe the process is rudimentary as of now as there are still several stages to go and a consensus needs to be reached from all ministries involved. “It is very rudimentary as of now. There are several stages to go. They will meet the officials, make a presentation, tell what they want. The government has to decide what has to be given what is not to be given. These are simple meetings going on,” sources told IANS. “It is not DIPP (Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion) alone but several ministries in it. It all depends on how things move. There needs to be a consensus from everyone,” the source said. Apple had last year applied for tax concessions and relaxation in domestic sourcing norm which were rejected by the Finance Ministry. But with the tweaking of the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) rules, the US company is hoping to be lucky this time. Last year Apple’s demands were rejected because of the rules but since then there has been a change in the policy, the source said. IANS