Vodafone, Cairn eligible to settle tax in India under new amnesty: Official

Vodafone Group and Cairn Energy are eligible to settle a tax dispute with India’s government under a new amnesty program, a senior government official said. The companies will need to pay their taxes by March to benefit from the interest and penalty waivers under the program, Pramod Chandra Mody, chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes, said.

“We are trying to see to it that the litigation is kept to barest minimum,” Mody said, adding that “if they wish to come, they are welcome.”

Vodafone’s dispute relates to its $11-billion acquisition of a 67 per cent stake in the mobile-phone business owned by Hutchison Whampoa, now part of CK Hutchison Holdings in 2007, while Cairn Energy is contesting a big tax bill — $1.6 billion plus interest and penalties — that New Delhi raised for a 2006 transaction.