New Delhi: The Income Tax Department asked for a Rs 84 crore penalty for three assessment years, according to a statement made on Tuesday by Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), and the Corporation has opted to dispute the ruling. According to LIC, in a regulatory filing, the tax authorities assessed a penalty of Rs 12.61 crore for the assessment year 2012–13, Rs 33.82 crore for the assessment year 2018–19, and Rs 37.58 crore for the assessment year 2019–20.
State-owned insurers have been fined for breaking sections 271 (1)(c) and 270A of the Income Tax Act of 1961, it stated. According to the notification, the Tax Department issued it on September 29, 2023.
LIC has earlier reported receiving a GST notification on September 22 for a total of Rs 290 crore. The price of LIC shares at market close on Tuesday was Rs. 645, down 0.73 percent from the stock’s opening price of Rs. 648.10. This year alone, the price of LIC stock has dropped by more than 9%. LIC shares had floated at Rs 867.2 per share, a drop of Rs 81.8 or 8.6 percent from the top end of its offering price range of Rs 902-949 per share. The NSE LIC share price was Rs 872 per unit, representing a discount of Rs 77 or 8.1 percent.
On the domestic equities market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 316.31 points, or 0.48 percent, to close at 65,512.10. The more encompassing NSE Nifty fell 109.55 points or 0.56 percent to 19,528.75.
Before this, on September 27, the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) sent ICICI Lombard a show-cause notice over a tax claim of Rs 17,28,86,10,803 (more than Rs 1,728 crore). The company stated in a filing that the show cause notice related to “non-payment of GST on the coinsurance premium accepted as a follower in case of coinsurance transactions and non-payment of GST on reinsurance commission accepted on the reinsurance premium ceded to various Indian and foreign reinsurance companies during the period July 2017 to March 2022”.
On September 29, the DGGI sent a show-cause cum demand notice to Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company over a tax claim of roughly Rs 1,010.06 crore.
LIC is a state-owned insurance with a sizable financial footprint. It was founded in 1956 with an initial capital of Rs 5 crore. According to information from March 31, 2023, it has a fantastic asset base of Rs 45.50 lakh crore and a life fund of Rs 40.81 lakh crore.
