Huawei Issues Response After Offices Searched by Indian Tax Authorities

Huawei has issued a response to its offices being searched by tax authorities in the Indian cities of Delhi, Gurugram and Bengaluru, asserting that its business in India strictly abides by local law. Indian authorities have so far declined to comment.

According to the report, Huawei said: “We have learned that the government tax team visited our office and met with some people. Huawei is confident that our business in India strictly abides by all laws and regulations. We will contact relevant government departments for more information, fully cooperate according to the rules and regulations, and follow the correct procedures.”

The Press Trust of India quoted official sources on Thursday, revealing that as part of a tax evasion investigation, the country’s income tax department has conducted searches at multiple domestic Huawei premises on Wednesday.

The raids involved Huawei’s business premises in Delhi, Gurugram and Bengaluru. Officials looked at financial documents, account books and company records as part of a tax evasion investigation into the company, the sources said. Some documents and records have been seized.

Prior to this, the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology banned 54 apps on February 14 on the grounds that they pose “security threats,” most of which were products made by Chinese enterprises. In December 2021, the Indian tax authorities raided domestic offices and manufacturing plants of Chinese smartphone brands such as Xiaomi and OPPO.

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In addition to raids, the Indian authorities also issued a tax recovery notice to Xiaomi.

On January 5 this year, the Indian Ministry of Finance stated that it had issued three notices to Xiaomi Technology India Pvt., and demanded that it pay a total of 6.53 billion India rupees ($88 million).

Xiaomi subsequently responded that it adheres to legal and compliant operations on a global scale and abides by the relevant laws and regulations in its places of operation. “The Indian departments asked Xiaomi to pay the import taxes related to royalties between April 1, 2017 and June 30, 2020, which has nothing to do with Xiaomi‘s recent business, and the official statement is not the final result.”