PUBLISHER Oxford University Press has been ordered to repay a 'substantial sum' of tax on profits made in India since the 1970s.
In the UK, OUP is exempt from tax because it is an integral part of Oxford University, which has charitable status. The Press argues that publishing activities are a direct pursuit of the university's charitable aims.
The company notched up growth of 104 percent last year with its turnover of £324 million making it the second largest UK publisher after Macmillan. For the year to March 2000, its profits more than doubled to £32.6 million. But any profit is labelled as a 'net surplus' and ploughed into the university. Last year it handed over £56 million.
However, the Supreme Court of India has ruled that OUP is not tax-exempt in the sub-continent because it does not carry out any University activities there, but operates simply as a commercial publisher. Speaking for the OUP, Caroline Scotter Mainprize said: "We are studying the recent judgment of our tax status in India. Further action, if any, will be taken on the basis of legal advice, which we are seeking." The firm has tax-exemption in several other countries including the USA and South Africa.
But Andrew Malcolm, of Brighton, an author and persistent critic of OUP's tax-exempt status, claims it could soon face trouble in these countries. However, Ms Scotter Mainprize said: "In the US, we file our accounts annually with the Inland Revenue Service. Indeed, a number of these filings are now available on Mr Malcolm's website. We have no knowledge of any complaint that may have been made against us to the IRS."
Click for the next item in the Malcolm v Oxford saga.
Click for A Message from India, follow-up 'in-depth' report by Maggie Hartford, The Oxford Times 30/3/01 (includes the University's admission that OUP's 'donations' of 1999 were bogus).
Click for a photo of Oxford House, Mumbai, India, OUP's Indian HQ since 1912, now to be sold to the Taj Hotel to pay off its back tax.
Click for the INDIAN SUPREME COURT JUDGMENT. The Indian Court Archive version (contains a number of typographical errors; link takes you out of www.akme) or for the Akme (corrected) version.