Foreign airlines refuse to provide data sought by GST authorities
Several foreign airlines, including Lufthansa, Emirates and British Airways, have declined to provide data sought by the Indian Goods and Services Tax (GST) authorities pertaining to ongoing investigations, said people with direct knowledge of the matter.
The director general (DGGI) of GST had sought data pertaining to a probe into the valuation of services provided by the foreign airline to their Indian arms. However, the airlines are learnt to have told the authorities that they do not maintain such granular data, according to people cited above.
The GST authorities had late last year sent notices to 10 prominent foreign airlines over alleged underpayment of taxes. The cases pertain to practices reportedly followed by these airlines to book India-related expenses from their overseas headquarters. Expenses on the DGGI radar include costs incurred for leasing of aircrafts, supplies provided and crew maintenance costs.
The Indian authorities have taken a view that these costs come under the GST ambit in India. However, foreign airlines have been arguing that it is a common practice in the aviation industry for the headquarters to book such expenses and provide these services to local arms.
