BBC ‘accepts’ it paid lower taxes in India

June 6, 2023

BBC has “acknowledged” that it may have paid lower taxes in India than its liability, government sources said on Monday. The broadcaster, which has been under the lens of tax authorities with its offices in Delhi and Mumbai ‘surveyed’ a few months ago, is yet to file revised returns or make a written submission to the I-T department.

“It is only a statement of intent so far, there is no payment,” a source said. A survey is an exercise to check books and other documents. The survey had come soon after the broadcaster aired a controversial documentary on PM Modi. When contacted, BBC’s London office refused to comment.

Without naming BBC, in February, the income tax department had alleged that the income and profits disclosed by the organisation's units were “not commensurate with the scale of operations in India”.

It also said the surveys allegedly “indicate that tax has not been paid on certain remittances which have not been disclosed as income in India by the foreign entities of the group”. BBC had said at the time that it was cooperating with authorities.

[The Times of India]