The dispute between Income Tax (I-T) department and Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC), which holds exclusive licence for wholesale and retail sale of liquor, is far from over. The TASMAC has approached the Madras High Court against the I-T department’s demand of ₹8,310.07 crore for the financial year 2016-17.
Justices R. Mahadevan and Mohammed Shaffiq have granted time to Hema Muralikrishnan, standing counsel for I-T department, to respond to an appeal preferred by the corporation against Justice R. Suresh Kumar’s refusal to quash the assessment order passed on March 30 this year. The single judge had directed the corporation to approach the appellate authority under the I-T Act of 1961.
Assailing his order, TASMAC counsel R. Vijayaraghavan contended the assessing officer had erred in including over ₹14,000 crore paid by the corporation to the State government, towards Value Added Tax (VAT) in 2016-17, as its taxable income. He cited a Supreme Court judgement delivered, in a case from Kerala, on January 3 to support his contention.
