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India hits Nokia with demand for $338M in back taxes

Indian tax authorities have accused Nokia with evading income tax in the country for five fiscal years.

Zack Whittaker Writer-editor
Zack Whittaker is a former security editor for CNET's sister site ZDNet.
Zack Whittaker

Nokia confirmed today it has been slapped with a demand for back taxes by Indian tax authorities.

According to Reuters, the Finnish phone maker was hit with a demand for income taxes 20.8 billion rupees ($383 million) going back five fiscal years.

It comes only a month after one of Nokia's factories in India was raided by the country's tax authorities.

The tax demand was issued on March 15. A stay has been placed on the demand, though, allowing Nokia to appeal the decision.

Nokia responded to Reuters' request for comment with a statement that "it is in full compliance with local laws as well as the bilaterally negotiated tax treaty between the governments of India and Finland." The firm said it will "defend itself vigorously."

For Nokia, India is a crucial market due to its size and emerging market base. Nokia's annual revenue in India -- its second largest market after China -- fell by nearly one-fourth in 2012.

This story originally appeared as "India demands Nokia $383M over tax evasion claims; stay issued" on ZDNet.