An Indian government agency has accused the local unit of South Korea’s Samsung Electronics of evading import taxes worth 17.28 billion rupees (US$212 million) by misclassifying a product, the Economic Times reported on Thursday.
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) said Samsung India Electronics Ltd misclassified networking devices called remote radio heads to avail undue exemption of basic customs duty, the Economic Times reported.
The agency sent Samsung India and PricewaterhouseCoopers Pvt Ltd (PwC), which was hired to classify the network equipment, a show cause notice, the report said.
Samsung, PwC and India’s finance ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
In a new development, Samsung Electronics’ Indian unit says it is reviewing a government notice related to a tax dispute after the media report.
“This is a tax dispute involving interpretation of law. We are reviewing the notice and are exploring legal opinion,” a Samsung India spokesperson said in an email, but did not give further details, including on specifics about the tax dispute.
Besides the Indian unit of South Korea-based Samsung, the DRI had also sent a show cause notice to PwC, which was hired to classify the network equipment, the report said.
PwC and India’s finance ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
