India court rejects $2.5 billion tax claim against Vodafone

NEW DELHI– India’s Supreme Court rejected Friday a $2.5 billion tax bill slapped on British phone giant Vodafone by Indian authorities over its purchase of a local operator.

“Indian tax authorities had no jurisdiction to tax Vodafone,” the Supreme Court ruled.

Indian authorities slapped a $2.5 billion tax bill on Vodafone and were seeking an equivalent sum in penalties over the company’s $11.1 billion purchase in 2007 of a majority stake in Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa’s Indian mobile unit.