Due to problems with invoicing, Samsung could lose its tax advantages in India

The South Korean tech giant Samsung is believed to be one of the major smartphone brands in India. Some recent pieces of information suggest that the company could lose tax advantages in the region. If this information is accurate, then the tech firm Samsung could face some tax benefits losses for the financial year 2021. As per the PLI (Production-Linked Incentive) scheme of the Indian government, the smartphone companies were granted some tax benefits in case they manufactured devices locally or invested capital in the country.

The Economic Times reports that Samsung may have to forgo tax incentives for the first year of the Indian government’s PLI program because of “discrepancies in invoicing.” The South Korean company claimed that it had fixed such problems and was in advanced negotiations to resolve the matter with the Indian government. For attaining INR 150 billion (about $1.81 billion) in additional sales in FY21 over the prior year, Samsung claimed a total of INR 9 billion (about $108 million) in August 2021.

In order to claim such incentives, the firm must manufacture smartphones that cover a factory cost of around INR 15,000 ($200). Unfortunately, a few inconsistencies were found in the company’s invoices by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). For this reason, the officials have withheld the payment.

In this perspective, an official from the government responded to this matter and informed that the issues have been resolved between the company and the government. As of now, the invoices are correct. Furthermore, the official remarked that Samsung has lost it for the first year. Such a statement indicates that the company might not receive tax benefits. However, the company is not eligible for tax benefits for the financial year 2022. In contrast, other manufacturers like Wistron and Foxconn have already taken their tax offerings from the government.