Vodafone Retro Amendment - Chancellor and CEO Protest
THE British Chancellor of Exchequer George Osborne raised the issue with our FM, Pranab Mukherjee. Osborne said that U.K. investors were anxious following India's proposal to amend the tax law. It seems Osborne was told that neither the U.K. nor other countries such as Australia or China are alien to retrospective amendment of tax laws.
It seems Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao has written to the Prime Minister, "We read disturbing comments in the Indian media from tax officials that they intend to use these provisions to quash the recent Supreme Court judgement and retrospectively require Vodafone to pay Hutchison's tax." He also said in his letter that the amendment would tarnish the image of India as an investment destination.