DRI slaps Rs 620 crore claim on IBM for unpaid duties

BENGALURU: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has issued a notice to technology major IBM, asking it to pay Rs 620 crore in unpaid customs duties for equipment imported into the country, three people familiar with the development told ET.
The DRI — which began investigating the suspected under-invoicing of equipment in 2014 — sent notices to IBM last week, the people said.
The agency has also issued two additional notices, two of the people said, which could take the total dues to Rs 900 crore. ET could not independently verify this claim.
The over-200-page notice for Rs 620 crore details what the DRI terms as omissions by the American company. IBM has been told that it has not been paying customs duty on the operating software sold along with the hardware, as well as duty on the warranty for this equipment. It has also been charged with not paying customs duty on intra-company transfer of assets from different geographies to India, according to the sources cited above.