A bill that aims to end all retrospective taxation imposed on indirect transfer of Indian assets was passed by the Lok Sabha on Friday amidst continuous protests by opposition over the alleged snooping through the Pegasus spyware and other issues.
When the ‘The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021′ would be passed by Rajya Sabha too, all tax demands made on companies like Cairn Energy and Vodafone using a 2012 legislation on indirect transfer of Indian assets prior to May 28, 2012 will be withdrawn.
The Union Finance Minister described the 2012 legislation as bad in law and bad for the investors’ sentiments. Rajendra Agrawal, who was in the chair, declared the bill passed after clause-wise discussions of the bill and a brief statement by Sitharaman.
The finance minister said there were 17 litigations due to the retrospective tax law and even the Supreme Court had said in 2012 that the tax could not be levied for the indirect transfer of shares of foreign companies. The bill has been brought as a clarification, she said.
