Washington : As foreign investors lobby hard against Rs 40,000 crore tax demand slapped on them, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said it is difficult for the government to intervene as they have lost the case before the Appellate. Jaitley said that these overseas institutional investors have the option to explore further legal remedies. A large number of such investors have been asked to pay Minimum Alternative Tax (MAT) for untaxed capital gains earned by them, but they have protested these tax notices and demands saying they were exempt from long-term capital gains tax and had never been subjected to MAT in previous years.
Revenue Secretary Shaktikanta Das told PTI that FIIs lost an appeal at the Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR) against levy of 20 per cent Minimum Alternate tax (MAT) on capital gains they made in years through March 31, 2015.
Promising a ‘modern tax system’ with low and globally competitive rates, Jaitley assured foreign investors against any retrospective action and said taxpayers will be seen as “partners and not as potential hostages or victims”.
