Samsung India executives seek to quash $81 million penalty over tax evasion
NEW DELHI, May 28 (Reuters) - Seven Samsung India executives have asked a court to revoke penalties of $81 million included in New Delhi's $601-million tax demand from the company for allegedly misclassifying some imports, arguing "no grave offence" had been committed, according to legal papers and a source.
The Indian tax authority in January found Samsung and its executives evaded tariffs by misclassifying imports of key mobile tower equipment from 2018 to 2021. Samsung has separately challenged the order before a tax appeals tribunal, where it has defended its declarations and denied any wrongdoing.
While Samsung's India unit faced a $520 million demand, employees were asked to pay penalties totaling $81 million for "knowingly and intentionally" playing a role in the misclassification of imports.
In a High Court filing in Mumbai which was not made public but was seen by Reuters, Samsung India logistics executive Ravi Chadha said the authorities issued the penalty within two to three days of receiving hundreds of pages of detailed responses from the company and its executives in January, and the process was "rushed".
"This timeframe is utterly insufficient to conduct the requisite in-depth study," read the filing by Chadha, who faces a fine of 950 million rupees ($11.1 million).
"The present case is limited to the interpretation of tariff entries, no grave offence has been committed."
Samsung India and Chadha did not respond to Reuters queries. India's tax authority did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
Online court records show the six other executives including the network division's vice president, Sung Beam Hong, a general manager for finance, Sheetal Jain, and Samsung's general manager for indirect taxes, Nikhil Aggarwal, have also challenged the tax authority's order.
The lawyer for all seven executives, Sriram Sridharan of Indian law firm Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The law firm also represents Samsung in the tax appeals tribunal challenge.
Their pleas and grounds for revoking the penalty are identical to Chadha's, said a source with direct knowledge of the ongoing lawsuits.
In his court filing, Chadha argued that the "egregiously exorbitant" penalty is impossible for any salaried employee to bear, and it would take him more than 100 years to settle the amount given his earnings.
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The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
UK Sikhs may ‘no platform' Labour MPs over lack of Amritsar massacre inquiry
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Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE How a mother-of-two mysteriously disappeared from her £1m home on the day of a family holiday... the truth was 'devastating'
Mr Jayaprakash visibly shakes as he relives the moment he found out why his wife Hemalatha had suddenly disappeared on the day of a family holiday. The couple had been due to travel to a Manchester Airport hotel for an overnight stay ahead of catching a flight the following morning to visit relatives in their native India. But as they busily packed their suitcases at their £1m detached home in Great Barr, on the outskirts of Birmingham, Hemalatha told him she needed to go out. She drove off in her Land Rover saying she was going to view offices of a new workplace, as she had previously been made redundant from her job but had told her husband she had secure a new one. But the mother-of-two was not driving to meet new work colleagues, she was rushing to attend a crown court trial - her own. Unknown to her loving husband and two adult children, Hemalatha had stolen £166k from her boss in a long-term fraud. 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Richard Davenport, prosecuting, told the hearing: 'The defendant said she was paying herself back for the money she provided the business in 2019. 'She also said she had stolen £55,000 and offered to repay the money. 'That amount was a vast understatement of the amount she had actually stolen.' It was established Jayaprakash had actually taken £167,062.68 over 158 transactions between January 2021 and March 2024. She was ultimately dismissed. The court was told Jayaprakash had repaid most of the stolen money, but Mr Rehal said he had not received anything himself because funds had been withheld from the sale of the business. In a victim impact statement he drew attention to a £6,480 sum she stole when he was out of office due to his mother dying less than 24 hours earlier. He stated: 'This is the level of greed and deception and betrayal we are dealing with.' He recalled how Jayaprakash turned up to his mother's funeral with 'flowers in hand.' 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The large property, adorned with garden sculptures, is named Gleneagles after the renewed luxury Scottish county, golfing and spa retreat. Asked if his wife had spent the stolen money on private school fees, he replied: 'No, my daughter went to a fee paying school and I paid for that.' Quizzed if she had given cash to struggling relatives in India, as she had suggested, he responded: 'We checked with family and they have not received a penny from her.' He admitted the case was 'baffling' as well as distressing. Asked if his wife may have been hiding a secret health battle, which she could have needed funding for, he said: 'No, not that I aware of. She was physically and mentally well and in a good state of health. 'It there was any problem I would have helped her.' He believes she may have been 'coerced' into illegal activity. Mr Jayaprakash told how his wife had been suspended from her star agent Jon in around 2014/2015 with her boss saying she was 'not fit for purpose.' He said: 'It appears she was not doing her job properly but within in a few weeks he took her back, the same post but with a bigger salary. 'She was accounts manager.' On the day she disappeared, he told how he rang the police to report his wife missing. Unbeknown to him she had driven her car into the city centre to attend her court hearing. Her vehicle, more than a week later, is still parked up with her husband not being able to retrieve it becaue her keys have been retained by the prison and have not yet been returned to him for removal. Mr Jayaprakash told how family and friends were helping him support him through this 'horrendous' ordeal. He said his wife was not coping well in prison and during brief phone calls to her she kept saying 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry;' but with no explanation and cannot say why. 'She's not in a good place, the court case and sentence has taken its toll on her, and her family. 'It has had such an impact on all our lives. 'Friends and neighbours who are now aware are trying tio be supportive but it is such a difficult time.' The traumatised husband is due to visit his caged wife for the first time this week, saying: 'I've not seem her since she left our house when I thought we were going in holiday, and still all our packed bags are left in the house. 'Her sentence was very harsh, and I think charges against her may have been spiced up. 'If anything she should have been given a suspended sentence and not jailed. 'She's not a killer!' He continued: 'We are trying to piece together what happened, because we are shattered. 'Her former boss was a bit of a character and I have a strong feeling he may be involved if there was any wrong doing and spiced things up 'I have my suspicions.' Shocked neighbours also had 'no idea' of her jailing. A woman living next door, who declined to be named, told MailOnline: 'I am absolutely shocked, God, I had no idea. 'She was a very kind person and she cooked me meals at times, she was so kind, 'I have been around to her house, we were not close friends but good neighbours.' She added: 'On reflection she hadn't been in the best of health, she hadn't been very unwell but she has the cough-cold virus, as we all do.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
China accuses US of using Shangri-La dialogue to 'create disputes'
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