On March 31, two people familiar with the matter said that India had frozen at least two bank accounts under ByteDance on the grounds of suspected tax evasion. Fearing that this move will affect the company’s business, ByteDance has submitted an application to the court to unfreeze the account. The company said that although the frozen account only has about $10 million in funds, this decision is an abuse of legal procedures and will make the company It is difficult to pay employees' salaries and pay taxes.

Last year, India imposed a ban on TikTok, a popular video app owned by ByteDance. ByteDance laid off some Indian employees in January this year.

ByteDance issued a statement questioning India's decision to freeze its bank accounts. The company has approximately 1,300 employees in India, most of whom serve overseas operations including content review.

Two sources said that in mid-March, India ordered the freezing of the two bank accounts of Bytedance India at Citibank and HSBC on the grounds that the online advertising transactions between Bytedance India and its Singapore parent company TikTok Pte Ltd. Suspected of tax evasion.

The first source said that India also requires Citibank and HSBC to prevent ByteDance Indian companies from withdrawing funds from other related bank accounts.

ByteDance India filed a lawsuit in the court for this move, which may be heard in the Mumbai High Court this week. ByteDance India stated in a material submitted to the court that although the frozen account only had about US$10 million in funds, the decision was an abuse of legal procedures and would make it difficult for the company to pay employees’ salaries and pay taxes. paragraph.

The two sources refused to disclose their identities, because the details of the bank account freezing and the content of the company's lawsuit to the court have not been made public.

ByteDance said, "We do not agree with the tax authorities' decision on this matter," adding that the company has been committed to complying with local laws.

Citibank and HSBC declined to comment.

Last year, India implemented bans on dozens of applications, including TikTok.

The first source said that last year, the Indian tax agency checked the documents of the Bytedance India company's office and asked some executives about the advertising business and other transactions with the parent company, and then ordered the freezing of Bytedance India's bank accounts.

Business is at a standstill

In court documents known to sources, ByteDance India stated that its entire business has come to a halt due to the freezing of its bank account, which violated its right to "carry out free trade and business."

The second source said, "The company has already suffered from a headache due to the TikTok ban. This (freezing of bank accounts) may affect employee wages and payments to suppliers." (Chenchen)

Source: NetEase Technology Report, translated by Google Translate