Court grants India’s SpiceJet relief over $10.86mn tax debt

A court has granted SpiceJet (SG, Delhi Int’l) partial relief from a demand from India’s Department of Revenue that it immediately pay a Goods and Services Tax (GST) debt of INR806 million rupees (USD10.86 million) or else provide details of movable and immovable assets it could seize.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court Chandigarh in northern India agreed with the cash-strapped carrier’s appeal to pay the debt in parts. Citing cash-flow strife due to the impact of Covid-19 on its business, SpiceJet had asked the court to allow it to pay the dues – which it admitted had accrued between February 2020 and June 2021 – in 24 equal monthly instalments instead of all at once.

“Having heard the learned counsels appearing for both parties, we find the prayer of the learned senior counsel for the petitioner to be a fair one,” the court said in its ruling, as quoted by the Business Standard newspaper.

The court instructed the Department of Excise and Taxation of Haryana – the state where SpiceJet Ltd has its corporate head office – to come up with new guidelines for the debt payments within two weeks.

“Since the tax liabilities were never opposed by SpiceJet and it had requested the authorities to pay in instalments due to the unprecedented hit to business because of Covid-19, since the dues were never opposed by the company and instead more time was sought to clear the dues, a writ petition was filed opposing the recovery proceedings. The court has now recognised this and has asked the tax authorities to decide on the specifics of the company’s request,” Anuj Dewan, the lawyer representing SpiceJet in the case, summarised.