The Supreme Court in its order said the Castleton matter is now laid to rest as the government has agreed to abide by the MAT circular. Post this, no dispute remains in the Castleton case, the apex court said.
In a circular released by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the government authority has directed its officials not to pursue any pending MAT cases.
The case pertains to whether MAT should apply to foreign companies including foreign portfolio investors (FPIs).
While the Castelton case has become the pivotal case, it may not really answer all our questions with regards to the FPI-MAT issue.
The commission, led by AP Shah, today submitted its 66-page report to the Finance Ministry on whether minimum alternate tax (MAT) should be levied on foreign institutional investors (FIIs).
The Finance Ministry could have sidestepped a damaging multibillion-dollar tax row with foreign investors if it had acted on regular warning letters that officials had been sending since as long ago as September.