The Bombay High Court on Tuesday permitted Chinese company ByteDance to operate its Indian bank accounts, that had been frozen by the Goods and Services Tax (GST) authorities over alleged tax evasion, after depositing a sum of Rs 78.91 crore in a state-run bank.
A bench of Justices S.P. Deshmukh and Abhay Ahuja directed ByteDance to deposit Rs 78.91 crore in any nationalised bank towards the demand raised by the GST authorities and said the company could operate its other Indian bank accounts and utilise the remaining funds.
The indirect taxes department has accused ByteDance of evading taxes and not paying its GST dues in full, a charge denied by the Chinese firm, which owns the popular video app TikTok that was banned by the Indian government last year.
ByteDance approached the high court last month denying all tax evasion allegations and seeking reliefs, including challenging the provisional attachment order for freezing of its bank accounts in India. Senior advocates Rafiq Dada and Vikram Nankani, who appeared for ByteDance, argued that since all the money in the accounts had been frozen, the company had been unable to pay its Indian staff salaries.
