I-T dept conducts survey at Truecaller India offices in tax evasion case

New Delhi: The Income-Tax Department Thursday carried out a survey operation at offices of Swedish caller ID platform Truecaller on charges of tax evasion, official sources said.

The Stockholm-headquartered company said it was cooperating with the investigators.

Tax officials said the survey operation was aimed to gather detailed information and check documents in connection with certain charges of tax evasion including those pertaining to transfer pricing (TP) issues.

They had earlier said it was search action. As part of a survey, the taxman only visits the business premises of an entity under probe whereas as part of a search operation, business as well as residential and linked premises are covered.

According to the company's website, Truecaller has offices in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Gurugram in India.

The company said in a public statement that "On Thursday 7 November 2024, Truecaller's India offices were visited by Indian Tax officials." "Truecaller are currently assisting the authorities to the full extent at our offices. This came without prior notice and Truecaller are currently awaiting official confirmation and communication from the tax departments," it said.

This is not an uncommon practice and Truecaller will cooperate fully with the relevant authorities, the company said.

The company said being a publicly-listed company, their practices were "entirely transparent.

It said the company was not subject to "any tax investigation in India outside the routine tax audits." "Truecaller's group financial statements have always received an unqualified audit opinion. Truecaller has always paid all taxes due in India and all regions where it operates," it said.

The company said its transfer pricing policy for its intra-group transactions is consistent with the internationally accepted arm's length standard, as has been informed earlier.

"The purpose is to ensure that Truecaller pays tax in a way that is correct from the perspective of both the Swedish and the Indian tax authorities.

"The policy is continuously independently reviewed to ensure that it meets the tax law requirements of both countries," the company said.

Truecaller said on its website that it has 425 million monthly active users around the world on Android and iOS platforms to identify numbers and block spam.