Income, profits not in sync with scale of ops

Mukesh Ranjan

New Delhi, February 17

The income and profits shown by various BBC group entities are “not commensurate” with the scale of their operations in India and tax has not been paid on certain remittances by its foreign entities.

BBC ‘survey’

• CBDT alleges tax-linked irregularities, accuses BBC of ‘dilatory tactics’ during survey
• Says evidence indicates tax has not been paid on certain remittances by its entities

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) issued a statement today, saying a survey was conducted at the business premises of a group entities of a prominent international media firm, engaged in the business of developing content in English, Hindi and other Indian languages, advertisement sales and market support services. But officials said the statement pertained to the BBC.

The CBDT alleged that various tax-linked irregularities were found and accused the media house of using “dilatory tactics” during the course of the survey. “The survey revealed that despite substantial consumption of content in various Indian languages (apart from English), the income/profits shown by various group entities (of BBC) is not commensurate with the scale of operations in India.

“… The department gathered evidence pertaining to the operation of the organisation which indicates that tax has not been paid on certain remittances, which have not been disclosed as income in India by the foreign entities of the group,” the statement read.

The BBC said it would “continue to cooperate with the authorities.” The CBDT said the survey had led to “crucial evidence” by way of statements of employees, digital evidences and documents. “It is pertinent to state that the authorities recorded statements of only those employees whose role was crucial, including those connected primarily to finance, content development and other production-related functions,” it said, adding that “dilatory tactics were employed (by the BBC), including in the context of producing documents/ agreements sought.”