I-T raids premises of Chinese mobile firms across states

MOBILE PHONES OF XIAOMI, OPPO AND SOUTH KOREA’S SAMSUNG ARE AMONG MAJOR BRANDS IN THE INDIAN MARKET DOMINATED BY CHINESE PLAYERS

NEW DELHI: The Income Tax department is holding searches across states at the premises of Chinese mobile phone suppliers and their associates in connection with suspected tax irregularities, said a person familiar with the matter on Wednesday.

The searches that started on Tuesday cover about two dozen premises across several cities, said the person who spoke on condition of anonymity. Suppliers of OPPO, Xiaomi and OnePlus brands are covered in the search, the person said.

A spokesperson for Xiaomi said the company gives paramountcy to remaining fully compliant with all laws. “As a responsible company, we give paramount importance to ensuring that we are compliant with all Indian laws. As an invested partner in India, we are fully cooperating with authorities to ensure they have all the required information,” the spokesperson said.

Emails sent to Oppo and OnePlus remained unanswered at the time of publishing. There was no formal response to an email sent to the finance ministry seeking comments on the development. The tax department does not identify the tax payer in any tax case unless it is disclosed as part of a court proceeding. Also, the department is yet to make a statement about the findings from the search operations. In many cases, the department gives a statement about the initial findings in major search operations without identifying the assessee.

With the increased use of technology and data analytics and greater coordination between direct and indirect tax authorities, the government now looks for mismatches in the information sourced from multiple agencies to identify cases of potential revenue leakage.

Mobile phones of Xiaomi, OPPO and South Korea’s Samsung are among major brands in the Indian market dominated by Chinese players.

Xiaomi says on its website it has presence in over 30 countries and regions and is expanding its footprint across the world to become a global brand. India is currently taking policy steps to encourage local production of mobile phones, which includes offering incentives to local manufacturing and adjusting the customs duty structure to discourage import of finished products.