Indian tax officials visit Allied Blenders offices in Scotch imports review

Oct 22 (Reuters) - Indian tax officials visited Allied Blenders’ ALLE.NS Mumbai office and one manufacturing facility on Wednesday as part of an industry-wide review of customs classification of bulk Scotch imports, the company said on Thursday.

Here are some details:

• Allied said the visit from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence to its corporate office in Mumbai and facility in Aurangabad would have no impact on the company’s finances or operations

• The review comes as the Indian tax authority investigates whether liquor giants Pernod Ricard PERP.PA and Diageo DGE.L wrongly classified some bulk Scotch imports, allowing them to pay lower tariffs, Reuters reported earlier this week, citing sources

• The tax department is concerned that companies are wrongly classifying bulk Scotch concentrates as products eligible for lower tariffs under the India-UK trade pact, Reuters reported

• Under the India-UK trade pact, which took effect on July 15, India agreed to slash import taxes on certain Scotch imports to 75%, from 150%