Kingfisher aircraft impounded at Mumbai for non-payment of service tax

The Service Tax department here has impounded an aircraft of the grounded Kingfisher Airlines for defaulting tax dues amounting to Rs63 crore, officials said on Tuesday. "We have seized one ATR aircraft of the Kingfisher Airlines as the carrier has failed to clear our dues," Mumbai service tax commissioner SK Solanki told PTI.

The beleaguered airline owes around Rs190 crore to the Service Tax Department, of which Rs127 crore are under litigation. The Vijay Mallya-owned carrier today said it has received a notice from the service tax department to which it has already responded.

"Since the aircraft is taken by Kingfisher purely on operating lease basis and the airline is only a lessee of the aircraft (not the owner), it does not feature as an asset in the books of accounts of Kingfisher," the Airline said.

Kingfisher has been grounded since October 1 following a strike by its pilots and engineers over non-payment of salary dues and its flying licence has been suspended. The cash-strapped airline is also facing eviction from Mumbai airport for Rs22 crore dues towards parking and navigational charges.