Byju's staff face TDS notices from tax department

BENGALURU: The income tax department has been sending demand notices of unpaid tax deducted at source (TDS) to former employees of Bengaluru-based edtech startup Byju’s over the last 10 days, TOI has learnt.
Multiple such employees confirmed having received these notices either via email or courier or both. “I have been in touch with my other colleagues. I am sure over 6,000 former or current employees have got this demand notice just as I have,” one such former employee, Kaushik Kumar Lade, told TOI.He was a senior manager of sales at the embattled startup.
TOI reviewed some of these demand notices. TDS is the tax amount deducted by the employer from the taxpayer that is deposited to the income tax department on behalf of the taxpayer.
“I wrote to the human resources department as well as the management by email about this notice. They responded after about 48 hours saying they are working on it and will clear the payments out as soon as possible,” Lade added.
Many other employees have also resorted to reaching out to the company, cluelessly. “We are not sure how and where this notice leads and our liability around it. Some clarity on this will help us all,” said an employee, on an anonymous basis.
A spokesperson from the company, currently undergoing an insolvency process, did not respond to TOI’s request for comment.
National Company Law Tribunal-appointed resolution professional Pankaj Srivastava, who is inviting lenders, employees, vendors and government to claim unpaid dues, also did not respond to queries until the time of publishing.
As on August 30, the govt registered claims amounting to $101 million with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI), as on IBBI’s website. Srivastava is in charge of inviting lenders, employees, vendors and govt to claim such unpaid dues.
With investments from the likes of Prosus, Peak XV Ventures, General Atlantic, Sofina, Bond Capital, Silver Lake and BlackRock, Byju’s was in 2022 valued at $22 billion. Since then, the company has had its fortunes turn with issues ranging from disputes with US lenders, dwindling business, disputes with investors and finally it all leading up to insolvency.