Rs 264 crore tax windfall for MTNL

For the assessment year 1997-98, as against the payment of tax of Rs 211.18 crore out of which Rs 194 crore relates to disallowance of licence fee, MTNL is eligible to get a refund of about Rs 264 crore, the company said in a statement.

The demand came after Income Tax Appellate Tribunal Delhi bench held that licence fee paid by MTNL to the Department of Telecom is a statutory liability and the same is an allowable deduction in the year 1997-98.

MTNL claimed that even if the above order of ITAT relates to the assesment year 1997-98, the cases of other assessment years AYs are still pending before the Tribunal.

As per the practice, once an item is decided by the Tribunal, it is followed for the other years also.

8216;8216;MTNL will be pleading before the IT Department to apply the effect of this judgement of ITAT for assesment year 1997-98 to all the other years in which licence fee has been disallowed.

In effect, MTNL will be benefitting with cash refunds of about Rs 1116.67 crore for the AYs 1994-95-2001-02 if allowed by the department,8217;8217; it said.