Start-ups that are looking to come back to India should pay taxes for backshoring, said Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal. While interacting with the Economic Times, Goyal said it would be challenging to justify a distinction about which company should be taxed and which shouldn’t be while coming back to India.
“These companies went outside for their own selfishness..not because of any pressure or other reason. They wanted to do better tax planning, and they enjoyed that benefit. Why they want to come back is not an altruistic motive,” said Goyal, as per the Economic Times.
Goyal further added that the start-ups want to list in India because here’s where they get the valuations. “India’s growth story is unparalleled in the world, and that’s why they want to come here,” he said.
Pine Labs, Zepto, Meesho, Razorpay, and Eruditus are some of the start-ups that are trying to move back to India, as per a report by the Economic Times. They are trying to move back from Singapore and the USA to India.
While PineLabs is trying to have a cross-border merger with the National Company Law Tribunal in India, Zepto is also in the final stage of such a merger, says the report. Further, Mesho is also trying to raise funds to return to India.
“So, if they have to pay tax, it’s good. It’ll help us give more scholarships to poor children, build homes for the poor, or replace the slums with proper housing,” said Goyal, as per the Economic Times.
He further added that the tax these start-ups would pay is from their own income, on which they had initially saved taxes. In 2023, Walmart Inc. paid $1 billion in taxes to India after PhonePe (owned by Walmart) shifted its base from Singapore to India, as per Reuters.
