Samsung India reviews a show cause notice from govt's revenue intelligence arm on a tax dispute

Samsung Electronics India on Thursday said that it is reviewing a government notice related to a tax dispute a day after reports of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) accusing the company of evading import duties worth 17.28 billion rupees surfaced.

According to a Reuters report, Samsung has said that the DRI case is about a tax dispute involving the interpretation of the law.
"We are reviewing the notice and are exploring legal opinion," a Samsung India spokesperson told Reuters in an email.

Along with Samsung India, the DRI had also sent a show cause notice to PwC, which was hired to classify the network equipment, according to a report by the Economic Times.

The notice asked why “the impugned goods, having a total accessible value of Rs 6,72,821 crore, imported under the bills of entry should not be held liable for confiscation under the provisions of section 111 (m) of the Customs Act, 1962”, the ET report added.

The DRI has also asked why the “differential duty (of) Rs 1,728.47 crore in respect of the bills of entry should not be demanded and recovered from them under the provisions of section 28 (4) of the Customs Act, along with interest at the applicable rate,”the report said.

It further added that the notice has asked why the department should not adjust Rs 300 crore deposited by SIEL towards payment of differential duty. Gurgaon-based SIEL and the individuals summoned have a 30-day period to reply to the adjudicating authority.

PwC and Samsung India did not immediately respond to Business Today's queries.

Meanwhile, the ET report quoted DRI. According to the agency, an analysis of the import data indicated that SIEL imported RRH in India since January 2018. It said that 219 bills of entry for import of the RRH were cleared by SIEL between January 2018 and July 2021, wherein the RRHs were self-assessed by the importer and cleared at nil rate of basic customs duty.

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