British telecom czar Vodafone Group is leaving no stone unturned in its effort to avoid the Rs 12,000 crore unforeseen tax burden. Earlier, Bombay High Court had ruled against Vodafone in its appeal against the Indian tax authorities, saying that the Vodafone-Hutchison deal is taxable. Vodafone had bought 67% controlling stake in Hutchison Essar Ltd (HEL) by buying out the shares of Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecom in 2007.

The company maintains that it is not liable to pay tax on the transaction. A statement issued by Vodafone, disclosing the appeal filed in SC, points to the firm stand taken by the company in this regard. It said, “The appeal challenges the recent High Court judgment on the issue of jurisdiction. Vodafone remains convinced that there is no tax to pay on the Hutchison transaction and we will continue to defend this position vigorously.”

Vodafone argues that since the transaction took place outside the country and the two parties involved are not based in India, the transaction doesn’t invite tax liabilities. However, the Indian tax authorities had raised the issue in 2007, issuing show cause notice, saying that the company should have deducted the tax amount before the payout to Hutchison. In the petition filed by Vodafone against this notice in Bombay High Court, the Court ruled that the Income Tax department has jurisdiction in levying tax on the transaction as it involved indirect transfer of Indian assets, which accrue revenue in India. The Court has allowed Vodafone to argue its case before the IT department on the penalty imposed, as the company was genuinely not aware of the tax liabilities at the time of the deal.

Though Vodafone is the first company to bear the brunt of the scrutiny of tax authorities, taxation experts say that hundreds of similar cross-border transactions have taken place in the past seven years. SSN Moorthy, Chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes had briefed media persons on Monday that officials are already investigating such deals.

Though the year began on a shaky note, last two months saw the job scene improving by leaps and bounds. In fact, 2009 went much beyond the most optimistic predictions.

Of course the situation in India was never as bad as that in the US and other western countries hit badly by economic downturn. But the ripples were evident here as well, though pay cuts and job losses were minimal. The restriction on new recruitment was one of the worst fallouts of meltdown.

Things are gradually returning to normalcy at the end of the 2-year long trauma and heartburn.

After years of bullish run, 2009 was significant in infusing some sort of sanity in the job market. The gloomy phase brought home the realization that short-term goals are detrimental to career growth. Obsessive focus on compensation brought on the downfall of the entire system. A more realistic single-digit growth seen throughout the year has brought in more stability in the job scene than ever before.

The maximum brunt of recession was felt in the financial services sector. Many banks and NBFCs closed down loss-making units, thus resulting in a number of job losses in the sector. The debt capital market was the least affected. The second quarter has brought in much cheer with better hopes for the third quarter.

IT, ITeS and telecom sectors, that were experiencing growth plateaus in the first half of the year, are looking forward to moderate and realistic hiring by yearend. Hiring is expected to improve during the course of 2010.

The news has generated much cheer on the occasion of New Year to employees and across Indian campuses.