Sachin and Binny Bansal are being pursued by income tax officials. Flipkart co-founders are facing I-T scrutiny owing to the Walmart deal that was sealed earlier this year. These I-T notices that were sent last month want Bansals to disclose the total income arising out of their stake sale to Walmart and capital gains received through the sale.
According to reports, similar notices have also been sent to 35 other stakeholders who made partial or complete exit from Flipkart following the Walmart deal. Sachin and Binny Bansal had owned more than 5% stake in the company that they had co-founded more than a decade ago.
Binny has reportedly admitted to a leading news publication about receiving IT notices few months back and also having replied to the same. However, Sachin Bansal continues to remain silent over the issue.
As a general practice, I-T department always keep a close watch on big business deals in order to make sure that all the stakeholders make mandatory tax payments to the government. Now given that Flipkart-Walmart deal was worth $16 Bn (one of the biggest deals in online retail space), I-T department’s sensitivity towards the deal is quite justified.
Hence it is least surprising that I-T department has so far sent multiple notices to Walmart post-Flipkart deal.
In fact, the current Indian government has been vociferously chasing big companies for tax collection. Tech giants like Google and Facebook have already been gagged by Indian tax officials on several occasions this year.
Analysts claim that this aggressive tax collection effort is need of the hour for government as it jostles for funds to spend on infrastructure and other popular social schemes. Good tax collection revenue is also critical for maintaining the fiscal deficit, especially with the country heading towards general election next year.