Jakarta (ANTARA News) – Nokia, which is facing a tax case in India's Supreme Court, said on Friday it had received a new sales tax bill of 300 million euros from Tamil Nadu, a claim it ruled “absurd”.
According to the Finnish company, authorities in the southern Indian state claimed that phones from Nokia's Chennai factory were not exported but sold in India. Products exported from India are exempt from tax.
“Nokia considers these allegations to be completely unfounded and contrary to national tax laws,” a Nokia spokesperson was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Nokia has filed a counterclaim in the Madras High Court in Chennai to fight the claims of the Tamil Nadu tax department and a hearing in the matter is expected to take place this week.
Nokia also denied the new deal would complicate its 5.4 billion euro deal to sell its phone business to Microsoft Corp.
Nokia hopes to reach a sales deal for its mobile phone business with Microsoft later this month.
The Indian Supreme Court, as part of a broader tax dispute over the Chennai plant, several weeks ago ordered Nokia to forfeit 35 billion Indian rupees and waive certain rights of defense before transferring ownership of the factory to Microsoft.
Company spokesmen said Nokia was still weighing its options in the face of the Indian Supreme Court's ruling on the Chennai plant, one of the largest facilities producing cell phones.
Besides Nokia, a number of other foreign companies are also facing tax demands in India, such as Vodafone Group, IBM and Royal Dutch Shell, Reuters reported.
