Income Tax department again seeks bribery documents from Cognizant

Chennai: The income tax department has revived its demand that Cognizant provide documents related to the bribes it had paid to Tamil Nadu government officials to secure approvals for a building. It has also begun inquiring into Cognizant’s withdrawal of a depreciation claim on the building, people familiar with the development told ET.

“They (Cognizant) had withdrawn the claim of depreciation on the asset for which improper payments were made,” an income tax official told ET. “Our inquiries are related to that.”

The information technology company has until March 10 to provide documents related to the illegal payments, the person said. Income tax rules allow companies to claim depreciation on commercial buildings.