Coca-Cola India and German airline Lufthansa are among the eight companies that have been issued notices for evading service tax.

The anti-evasion wing of the commissionerate of service tax issued notices to the eight firms for the evasion of service tax amounting to Rs 77 crore. According to the agency, Coca-Cola is alleged to have evaded Rs 8.55 crore between April 2003 and April 2007.

Lufthansa has been issued a Rs 6.16-crore demand notice for not paying tax on the full value of fare received by the airline. Construction company Era Infra Engineering Ltd has been issued a notice for Rs 35 crore. Coca-Cola was issued a notice for the non-payment of tax on out-of-pocket expenses paid to outsourced services.

Out-of-pocket expenses include spending over and above the contracted amount, which is not inclusive of reimbursements for labour and machinery supplied while providing consultancy or other services.

We are in the process of filing a suitable reply to the notice, said a Coke spokesperson.

In April this year, the commissionerate of service tax issued 34 showcause notices demanding more than Rs 355 crore. The anti-evasion branch had demanded Rs 32.71 crore from the Confederation of Indian Industry. Others on the list include the KPMG group of entities (Rs 29 crore), Nestle India Ltd (Rs 17 crore), Cox & King India (Rs 14.64 crore), the Airport Authority of India (Rs 8.59 crore), and Master Card International (Rs 8.28 crore).