MUMBAI: Delhi-based news broadcaster the Prannoy Roy-headed NDTV has been caught up in a legal tangle with the income tax (IT) department for sometime. Last week, the income tax appellate tribunal (ITAT) ruled in its favour on tax matters related to assessment years 2007-2008 and 2008-2009.

The ITAT said that NDTV need not pay tax on additional amount of Rs 22.09 crore which the department wanted to add to its taxable income. The ITAT rejected this claim entire amount, with the exception of Rs 12 lakh.

The ITAT also allowed directed the IT department to allow it higher ESOP expenses of Rs 43.55 crore, against the earlier claim of Rs 21 crore. This has reduced the tax liability for NDTV for that period even further.

NDTV won the ITAT’s nod on another ground too: it agreed that the company had correctly disclosed its international transactions with its associated enterprises including the provision for shareholder services on which no markup is required to be charged under transfer pricing regulation and negated the claim of the IT department of charging a notional markup on such services. Consequently, NDTV has got a tax relief to the tune of Rs 82.35 lakh in this regard.

NDTV has other cases from IT department pending for other assessment years.

The company notched up a loss of Rs 38 crore in its latest financial filings for Q1 2017 on a topline of Rs 115 crore.

Its share was trading at Rs 78 odd at the close of trading last week.