NEW DELHI, April 6 � Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today asserted that legitimate tax demand cannot be considered �tax terrorism� because India is not a tax haven, reports PTI.
Appearing to defend the tax notices sent to about 100 FIIs totalling USD 5-6 billion, he said �taxes which are payable must be paid�.
�India is not so vulnerable that every legitimate tax demand is considered as tax terrorism ... We are not a tax haven and we don�t intend to be one,� he said while addressing the CII�s annual general meeting.
In the biggest-ever tax demand, nearly 100 foreign funds have been asked to cough up an estimated USD 5-6 billion for �untaxed gains� made by them in the Indian markets over the past years. The Income Tax department has imposed 20 per cent Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) on capital gains made by FIIs.
Jaitley in his last budget speech proposed to scrap MAT on capital gains made by FIIs.
