Amid the controversy over the ₹14,200-crore tax reminder notice to Vodafone for an issue under arbitration, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Monday said the Centre is trying to resolve the issue.

“When an Indian company goes to England, it pays taxes. Pharma companies pay taxes in the US. The Prime Minister has said taxes cannot be levied on retrospective basis. But the tax liability issue still remains,” he said at an event organised by a private news channel.

He added that it was not right to gauge the country’s economic capability by limiting it to the Vodafone case.

On February 4, the I-T department issued a reminder to Vodafone over its ₹14,200-crore tax demand and threatened to seize assets in the case of non-payment.

The notice, sent to Vodafone International Holdings BV, said the dues are in relation to its $11-billion acquisition of Hutchison Whampoa’s India telecom business in 2007.

The British telecom major has disputed the tax demand over its acquisition of 67 per cent stake in Hutchison, now called Vodafone India, arguing that no tax was due as the transaction was conducted offshore.

But the tax department’s contention is that capital gains were made on assets in India. The issue is under international arbitration.