Zomato Gets Tax Demand Order With A Penalty Of ₹23.26 Crore

Zomato on Sunday said it has received a tax demand, interest, along with penalty, to the tune of Rs 23.26 crore from the Assistant Commissioner of Commercial Taxes (Audit), Karnataka.

The online food delivery platform said it will appeal against the order before the appropriate authority.

In a regulatory filing to the BSE, the company said it has "received an order for FY 2018-19 pursuant to the audit of GST returns and accounts by the Assistant Commissioner of Commercial Taxes (Audit), Karnataka, raising demand of GST of Rs 11,27,23,564, along with applicable interest and penalty totaling to Rs 23,26,64,271.

Recently, Antfin Singapore Holding, an affiliate of Alibaba's Ant Financial Group, sold a 2.02 per cent stake in Zomato on Wednesday, valued at Rs 2,827.08 crore. This reduced their ownership from 6.32 per cent to 4.3 per cent. Conversely, Morgan Stanley Asia (Singapore) Pte increased its stake in Zomato by acquiring 0.65 per cent of shares.

The company responding to this said, "We believe that we have a strong case on merits and the company will be filing an appeal against the order before the appropriate authority".

The delivery service's shares were trading at Rs 182.15, gaining 1.50 per cent, when the markets ended the day's trade on 28 March.