Rs 65,000-crore tax dispute cases hang fire

NEW DELHI: Tax disputes of over Rs 65,000 crore are locked at various tribunals and courts as some of the major corporate cases have not been resolved for several years.

The settlement of the Vodafone case, which will enrich the government by Rs 10,000 crore, could be a mere exception, but the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has been at loggerheads with a number of companies and public sector undertakings (PSUs) for years. In fact, the unresolved I-T cases where the dispute is over Rs 100 crore include that of Apollo Tubes, Rolex Holdings, Daewoo Motors, Ganpati Exports, Vatsa Corporation and Prudential Capital Markets, sources in finance ministry told SundayET.

The I-T department has also been at loggerheads with a number of PSUs, including Chhattisgarh State Electricity Board, Kolkata Port Trust and Hindustan Shipyard , Visakhapatnam. Whereas initial I-T disputes are settled at Commissioner of Income Tax (CIT-Appeals ), unresolved cases are fought at the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) and finally at High Courts and Supreme Courts.

Sudhir Chandra, CBDT member looking after judicial matters, said the department wanted to minimise litigation over tax disputes , and settle cases across the table. ���We want to bring down the number of litigation which will also reduce the cost of tax payers . We don���t appeal in the Supreme Court if it���s a case of less than Rs 10 lakh. At the Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), our officials themselves argue the cases against trained lawyers used by corporates.���