Online food delivery platform Zomato has received a notice from Karnataka Tax Department officials regarding tax demand and penalty of Rs 23.26 crore. The company gave this information in its exchange filing on Sunday. However, the company said its case is strong on merits and it will file an appeal against the order before the appropriate authorities. Zomato said that a demand order has been received for higher benefits of input tax credit and interest penalty. The company had given clarification on the issue along with relevant documents and judicial precedents in response to the show cause notice, which was not given importance by the authorities while passing the order. Zomato said, ‘The company believes that it has a strong case to defend the matter before the appellate authorities. This matter will not have any financial impact on the company. Zomato’s share reached Rs 182.15. Zomato’s share closed at Rs 182.15 on Thursday (28 March) with a rise of 1.50%. The market cap of the company is Rs 1.58 lakh crore. The stock has given a return of 250.63% to its investors in the last one year. On March 15, a GST order worth Rs 8.57 crore was received. Earlier on March 15, Zomato had received a GST order worth more than Rs 8.57 crore. The Deputy Commissioner of Gujarat State Tax had issued this order to the company in relation to the financial year 2018-19. Zomato had said in the regulatory filing that in the order the company has been asked to pay GST of Rs 4,11,68,604. Along with this, he has also been asked to pay interest of Rs 4,04,42,232 and a fine of Rs 41,66,860. Total amount is Rs 8,57,77,696. This order came after audit of GST returns and accounts. The company paid less GST. Zomato had said that the GST order has been issued under Section 73 of CGST Act 2017 and GGST Act 2017. The order said that the audit found that the company availed Additional Input Tax Credit and paid less GST. Due to this this GST order was issued. Zomato will challenge the GST order. Zomato said that in response to the show cause notice, it had clarified things on all issues with relevant documents, circulars etc. But it seems that the officials did not fully consider them while passing the orders. Zomato had said that it would challenge this order before the appropriate authorities. Zomato’s net profit in Q3FY24 was Rs 138 crore. Zomato had announced the results of the third quarter (October-December) of the financial year 2023-24 on 8 February. The company’s net profit in Q3FY24 stood at Rs 138 crore. The company had suffered a loss of ₹346.6 crore in the same quarter last year (Q3FY23). At the same time, the company’s net profit has increased by 283% on quarterly basis (QoQ). The company had registered a profit of Rs 36 crore in the last quarter i.e. Q2FY24. The company’s revenue increased by 69% to Rs 3,288 crore. The company’s consolidated revenue from operations in Q3 also increased by 69% on an annual basis to Rs 3,288 crore. In the same period of the last financial year, the company had generated a revenue of Rs 1,948 crore.
