Finance Minister of India P Chidambaram has exuded confidence that the Rs112 billion Vodafone tax dispute will be resolved within a month. 

“They (Vodafone representatives) are being invited to a third round of discussions this week... they (Central Board of Direct Taxes) expect them to come any time this week and I am looking forward to a resolution of the Vodafone issue. And I’m confident we will resolve that issue,” he told the Financial Times in an interview. 

When asked whether the issue would be resolved in the next month or so, the minister said “I am trying to resolve it even sooner than that”. 

British telecom major Vodafone was slapped with an income tax demand notice of Rs112 billion on its 2007 acquisition of Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa’s stake in its Indian telecom business. 

The liability arose following the then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee amending the Income Tax Act, 1961 with retrospective effect to undo the Supreme Court judgment that had ruled in favour of the company. 

Chidambaram said he was “happy that Vodafone has formally written to the government offering to engage senior government officials to find a way out of the problem. They have held two rounds of discussions with my Revenue Secretary and the Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT)”. 

The minister said he was confident about resolution of the dispute soon because “for the first time, Vodafone has offered to engage the government in a discussion to find a solution rather than persist with its Notice of Arbitration”. (PTI)