France on Saturday said a global settlement was reached between its tax authorities and a Reliance subsidiary and it was not subject to any political interference, the assertion coming in the wake of reports that it granted huge tax waivers to Anil Ambani’s French firm.
The leading French newspaper Le Monde had reported that France waived taxes worth 143.7 million euros (Rs 1,120 crore) to a French-registered telecom subsidiary of Ambani’s Reliance Communications in 2015, months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi struck the revised Rafale deal.
“A global settlement was reached between the French tax authorities and Reliance Flag, a telecom company, in a tax dispute pertaining to the period 2008-2012,” the French embassy said in a statement.
“This settlement was conducted in full adherence with the legislative and regulatory framework governing this common practice of the tax administration.” The settlement, it said, was not subject to any political interference.
The newspaper said the company was probed by tax authorities and found liable to pay 60 million euros in taxes for the period 2007-10. But Reliance offered to pay 7.6 million euros as settlement. The authorities conducted another probe for the period 2010-12 and asked the company to pay an additional 91 million euros in taxes, the report said.
Six months after Modi announced the deal, the authorities accepted 7.3 million euros from Reliance against the demand for 151 million euros.