Vodafone tax issue: No 'rash job' will be done, says Poonam Kishore Saxena, CBDT head

NEW DELHI: The Central Board of Direct Tax has said tax officials will not do a "rash job" on Vodafone and will proceed only after taking into account the Supreme Court ruling and legal opinions.

"The amount of taxes involved is not small and therefore much due diligence has to be done by him (Assessing Officer) ... there are so many legal opinions to be taken and considered," Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairperson Poonam Kishore Saxena told reporters, repeating what finance minister P Chidambaram had said earlier.

She did not give a time line for action by the assessing officer.

"I do not think that anybody can give you any time-line. These (time-lines) are internal how we choose to go about it. If the AO needs some time to study the entire matter, it is for him. We are not going to rush him," she told reporters in her first interaction with media after taking over as chairperson of CBDT.

Finance minister P Chidambaram had earlier this week said there would be no "rash" action in Vodafone tax case and the matter will be decided after considering all aspects including recommendations the Shome Committee on indirect transfer of assets.

"They (I-T assessing officers) and are not going to act rashly. These are not small amounts on which you can take a rash decision," he had said.

The I-T Department had on October 22, 2010 passed an order determining a tax liability (including interest) of Rs 11,218 crore on Vodafone for its acquisition of Hutchinson's stake in Hutch-Essar through a deal executed in the Cayman Islands in 2007.

The Supreme Court, however, quashed the order in January this year. The government subsequently amended the Income Tax Act with retrospective effect to bring such deals into tax net.

Saxena also said that director general international taxation had not sought any guidance from the board on Vodafone and had only apprised it of the developments in the high profile case.