Zomato gets service tax demand, penalty order of ₹184 crore, set to appeal

livemint.com:

Zomato, India’s leading online food delivery platform, has said that the company has received a service tax demand and penalty order of over ₹184 crore for the period October 2014 to June 2017. Stressing that the company will file an appeal against the order before an appropriate authority, the food aggregator said the demand order is for non-payment of service tax of certain sales made by the foreign subsidiaries and branches of the company to its customers located outside India, in a late-night regulatory filing Zomato said.

"The company has received an order for the period October 2014 to June 2017 passed by the Commissioner, Adjudication, Central Tax, Delhi raising demand of service tax of ₹92,09,90,306, along with applicable interest (not quantified) and penalty of ₹92,09,90,306," Zomato said. Zomato said it received the order passed by the Delhi Central Tax Commissioner (Adjudication) on April 1.

As per the regulatory filing, the company in its response to the show cause notice had clarified that the “allegations along with supporting documents and judicial precedents, which appears to not have been appreciated by the authorities while passing the order." Zomato said it will be filing an appeal against the order before an appropriate authority as it believes it has a strong case on merits. “The company believes that it has a strong case to defend the matter before the relevant appellate authority and does not expect any financial impact on the company," the regulatory filing read.

Zomato shares closed at ₹183.05 today, down -0.81% from yesterday's ₹184.55. The intra-day high was ₹188 and the low was ₹183.

Zomato's market capitalization stood at ₹160,104.84 crore. The 52-week high was ₹188.95 and the 52-week low was