After Banning TikTok, India Freezes Bank Accounts of ByteDance For Alleged Tax Evasion: Report | Earth Indian

New Delhi: After imposing a complete ban on Chinese apps, including the most popular TikTok, India has blocked the bank accounts of ByteDance for alleged tax evasion and the company has asked a court to quash the directive which it fears will hit its operations hard, two sources with direct knowledge told news agency Reuters.

According to reports, India had in mid-March blocked two of ByteDance bank accounts in Citibank and HSBC for alleged evasion of certain taxes in online advertising dealings between the ByteDance unit in India and its parent entity in Singapore, TikTok Pte Ltd.

Other than the two accounts, India has also directed Citibank and HSBC to not allow ByteDance India to withdraw funds from any other bank accounts linked to its tax identification number.

In a court case which is due to be heard soon at Bombay High Court, ByteDance India has argued that while it had only about $10 million in its accounts, the blocking decision was an abuse of the legal process and will make it hard for it to pay salaries and taxes.

However, ByteDance India, as well as HSBC, Citibank and finance ministry, were not available to respond to the developments.

The directive to freeze bank accounts of ByteDance came after tax authorities last year inspected documents at the company’s office, scrutinized documents and questioned some executives in relation to the advertising and other transactions with its parent entity.

In January this year, ByteDance took a decision to cut its workforce in the country after India decided to retain a ban on its popular video app TikTok. However, China criticized the move and said it suspected it was against the WTO rules.

After imposing a complete ban, India last year said the move to ban TikTok was in interests of national security and sovereignty. The move was widely seen as the broader pushback against Chinese businesses after the Galwan clash at Eastern Ladakh that left 20 soldiers dead.

By Shivam Urkude || Earth Indian