Truecaller Tax Dispute: Why India Is Demanding $91 Million
Truecaller, the Swedish caller identification app, said on Monday it expects Indian tax authorities to seek about 900 million Swedish crowns, roughly $90.85 million including interest, following a transfer pricing audit covering multiple financial years. The company insists its tax practices comply with international rules and says it will challenge the order through India’s tax tribunals and courts.
The dispute centres on transfer pricing, which refers to the price charged in transactions between related companies within the same corporate group. Indian tax authorities have questioned how revenue was allocated between Truecaller entities, issuing the first formal transfer pricing order for the 2022-23 financial year. That order proposes an adjustment of 270 million Swedish crowns in additional tax and interest, while a formal tax demand is expected to follow. The company said it now expects similar adjustments across the financial years from 2018-19 to 2023-24, taking the total potential liability to around 900 million Swedish crowns.
Despite the headline figure, Truecaller says the final financial impact could be considerably lower. The company expects to recover around 350 million Swedish crowns in Sweden through double taxation relief, reducing its net potential exposure to roughly 550 million crowns.
Rejecting the tax authority’s conclusions, Truecaller said its transfer pricing policy follows the internationally accepted arm’s length principle and has been verified by external experts. “Truecaller firmly reiterates that all claims are unfounded,” the company said, adding that it would contest the order through India’s tax tribunals and courts.
The outcome matters because India is Truecaller’s biggest market, accounting for roughly three quarters of the company’s revenue. The latest dispute comes nearly two years after Indian tax officials visited the company’s India offices during what Truecaller then described as a routine tax audit, when it said it was cooperating fully with authorities and was not facing any investigation beyond standard tax reviews.
The case adds to a long list of transfer pricing disputes involving multinational companies operating in India, where tax authorities have increasingly scrutinised how profits are distributed across global corporate structures. For Truecaller, the challenge will be to resolve the dispute without jeopardising its position in the market that drives the bulk of its business.
Original Source: https://www.firstpost.com/business/why-is-india-seeking-nearly-91-million-in-taxes-from-truecaller-14053800.html
Category: India
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Publish Date: 2026-10-19 12:23:00