Nokia has today released a press statement in regards to a new “Tax claim” against it in India, this time by the Tamil Nadu state government, though. Chennai plant was built on Government provided SEZ land and you may know that companies manufacturing and exporting items from SEZ enjoy tax benefits. But, seems the Tamil Nadu tax department is now accusing Nokia of selling manufactured devices domestically in India instead of exporting them. Nokia has filed a writ against this claim and maintains that by checking and verifying relevant documents this claim can be rebuffed easily.
Nokia has today 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.
Nokia considers the claim to be 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.
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. We contend 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.
