Breather For Vodafone Idea! SC Orders Income Tax Dept To Refund Rs 833 Crore

The verdict has come as a major breather for the debt-ridden telecom major service provider which still owes Rs 50,399 crore of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues to the Centre.

(Representative Image/ Getty)

New Delhi: Vodafone Idea Limited and the Income Tax Department have been locked in a battle for some time now as Vodafone seeks refunds while the Income Tax Department is laying claim to previous demands. However, in a major relief for telecom giant, the Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Income Tax department to refund the telecom company Rs 833 crore, pending for the assessment year (AY) 2014-15. The verdict has come as a major breather for the debt-ridden telecom major service provider which still owes Rs 50,399 crore of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues to the Centre, as directed by the Supreme Court after telecom company failed to clear its outstanding dues. The Income Tax department argued in the court that it withheld the refund as massive outstanding dues are pending and are yet to be settled with the telco. However, the top court junked the claims stating that the I-T department did not have the power to withhold refund against undetermined future demands. It can be recalled that the Indian entity of Vodafone Idea had earlier sought over Rs 5,000 crore refund for the assessment years 2014-15 to 2017-18. For the annual year 2014-15, the telco filed I-T returns for Rs 1,532 crore; the year 2015-16, the company filed income-tax returns of Rs 1,355.51 crore; a year later for the year 2016-17, the firm claimed a refund of Rs 1,128.47 crore; while for 2017-18, Vodafone sought Rs 743 crore refund. Meanwhile, the company has already paid the adjusted gross revenue based dues and the payment of Rs 7,854 crore to the government.