Retro tax settlement: Cairn, Vodafone, others to wait 5 months to get refund

Companies seeking refunds for retrospective taxes will have to indemnify the Indian government against future claims.  

New Delhi: Companies such as Cairn Energy Plc and Vodafone Group of the UK will have to indemnify the Indian government against future claims in order to settle their retrospective tax cases, according to rules notified by the government to settle disputes arising from seeking back taxes.

The Ministry of Finance on October 1 notified rules that when adhered to will lead to the government withdrawing tax demands raised using the 2012 retrospective tax law and any tax collected in enforcement of such demand is paid back.

But the repayment, going by the timelines drawn in the rules, will take a minimum of 2-3 months.