Biznextindia : IT services giant Infosys has agreed to an $800,000 settlement with the California State of USA on a case related to tax evasion. The state had accused the company of evading taxes by using B-1 business-visit visas for hundreds of foreign workers instead of the hard-to-obtain and expensive H-1B.
The shares of Infosys today trading at Rs.733 up 0.51% at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
On behalf of whistleblower Jack “Jay” Palmer, a former Infosys employee, the California State officials took legal action against Infosys in 2017. According to the just-unsealed Nov. 16 settlement agreement, state officials claimed that from 2006 to 2017, Infosys was responsible for “falsifying documents, false reporting and/or falsely identifying their employees for the purposes of procuring the wrong immigration visa for their employees that were travelling to the US.”
Reacting on this a statement released by Infosys said, “ Infosys’ agreement concludes the California Attorney General’s investigation into allegations related to the payment of state payroll taxes for some employees travelling on B-1 visas dating back to 2006. The agreement—which notes that Infosys strongly disputes the allegations and in which Infosys admits no wrongdoing—will result in the case being dismissed with prejudice and was reached to avoid the time, expense, and distraction of protracted litigation on allegations dating back more than 13 years. Infosys maintains robust policies and procedures to ensure adherence with all applicable regulations and laws”.