THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala State Beverages Corporation (Bevco) will get Rs 1,150 crore from the Income Tax Department as repayment for a wrong assessment, Excise Minister M B Rajesh has said.
The IT Department had collected Rs 1,015 crore from Bevco in 2019, of which, Rs 668 crore was levied after freezing the bank accounts of the Bevco.
The KSBC had to pay another Rs 347 after which the freezing was lifted. The money was collected on the basis of a wrong assessment for the period from 2014-15 to 2018-19.
The IT Department’s stand was that turnover tax and surcharge cannot be considered as expenses but as income.
The unexpected payment created a big crisis for the corporation which had to avail of bank loans to continue operations. The Bevco got a favourable verdict from the Supreme Court. The SC asked the IT Department to consider Bevco’s demand to consider the surcharge and turnover tax for the FYs 2015 and 2016 as expenses since it was a public sector organisation.
Now the IT Commissioner has ordered to release the levied amount with interest. Rajesh congratulated Bevco MD Yogesh Gupta and his team for their tiring efforts to reclaim the amount.