IATA boss warns foreign airlines may quit India if taxation issues are not sorted
India doesn’t address concern over taxation, the chief of IATA warned on Tuesday.
Lok Sabha Election Results 2024 Live Updates
Lok Sabha Elections: The biggest winners of the day
The surprising upsets and the biggest losers
Over the last few months, India offices of multiple global airlines groups have received tax evasion notices from Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI).
The airlines that has been served notice includes Emirates, British Airways, Lufthansa Singapore Airlines, Etihad Airways, Thai Airways, Qatar Airways, Saudi Arabia Airlines, Emirates
“As a result of this, you could see these airlines withdrawing from the Indian market. How it happens is that airlines gradually reduce the number of flights because it impacts their profitability and then go for a total withdrawal, “Wille Walsh, director general of International Air Transport Association (IATA), said in a response to a query from ET.
He was speaking on the sidelines of the Annual General Meeting of IATA at Dubai.
IATA counts 300 airlines as its member.
The notices were served for non-payment of tax on import of services like maintenance, payment to crew, aircraft lease rentals etc. These services are provided by the airlines to their Indian entity.
IATA in its representation to the Indian government has argued that saying that the place of service was both head office and branch office and airlines should be liable to pay only what is taxable in India, like payment for hotel accommodation used by the Indian staff outside
