BBC ‘intends to pay’ tax to I-T dept after alleged irregularities

The intent to pay the pending tax amount follows surveys conducted by the tax authorities at the British broadcaster’s offices in Delhi and Mumbai in February, after which it had said it had found “several discrepancies and inconsistencies with regard to transfer pricing documentation”.

When contacted by The Indian Express, a BBC spokesperson said, “The BBC is cooperating fully with the Indian tax authorities’ enquiries and will continue to do so. The process is ongoing and will take time to conclude. The BBC of course takes its tax obligations very seriously.”

On the queries by the newspaper to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), an official said the tax department does not comment on individual cases.

In February, the income tax department without naming BBC in its statement, had said the surveys had resulted in “unearthing of crucial evidences by way of statement of employees, digital evidences and documents which will be further examined in due course”.

“The survey revealed that despite substantial consumption of content in various Indian languages (apart from English), the income/ profits shown by various group entities is not commensurate with the scale of operations in India,” it said. “During the survey, the department gathered several evidences pertaining to the operation of the organisation which indicate that tax has not been paid on certain remittances which have not been disclosed as income in India by the foreign entities of the group,” it said.

The tax department’s action had come weeks after the British broadcaster had on January 17 released a documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots. On January 20, the central government ordered YouTube and Twitter to take down links sharing the documentary, with officials saying it was found to be “undermining the sovereignty and integrity of India” and had “the potential to adversely impact” the country’s “friendly relations with foreign states” and “public order within the country”.