Vodafone Group Says Bombay High Court Defers India Tax Hearing To July 8

8th Jun 2010 09:54

BANGALORE (Dow Jones)--Vodafone Group PLC (VOD.LN) Tuesday said the Bombay High Court has deferred a hearing on Vodafone International Holdings BV's appeal challenging the jurisdiction of Indian tax authorities to levy a tax of up to INR120 billion ($2.54 billion) on the company. The hearing has been deferred to July 8, the company said in an emailed statement. The court's decision to defer came after the appeal was taken up for hearing on Tuesday. The Netherlands-based unit of Vodafone Group filed a high court appeal against the tax department's May 31 notice that said it had the jurisdiction to impose a tax on the company's purchase of a majority stake in a local mobile phone operator. Vodafone bought Hutchison Essar Ltd. for about $11.2 billion in 2007 and later renamed it Vodafone Essar Ltd. Further, the court also noted the tax department's undertaking that it won't take any further steps on the matter until the hearing, the company said. Vodafone, the world's largest mobile operator by sales, says it isn't liable to be taxed in India because the deal to buy a 67% stake in Hutchison Essar from Cayman Islands-registered CPG Ltd. took place on foreign soil. CPG is owned by Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd. However, India maintains that Vodafone should have withheld tax on the government's behalf and that Vodafone is liable to pay tax as the deal involved the transfer of an Indian asset. Indian authorities have slapped a tax bill on Vodafone International, which carried out the deal on behalf of Vodafone Group. Vodafone International Holdings remains fully confident that no tax is payable, the company said. -By Dhanya Ann Thoppil, Dow Jones Newswires; +91-9886929464; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 08, 2010 04:54 ET (08:54 GMT)