FirstCry Parent Brainbees Receives Income Tax Reassessment Notice Over ESOP Shares:

FirstCry’s parent company Brainbees Solutions Limited has informed the stock exchanges that the Income Tax Department has issued a re-assessment notice to its ESOP Trust for Assessment Year 2022-23.

"The Income Tax Department is of the view that some income liable to tax has escaped assessment," the company said. The matter is related to the issue of 1,03,62,254 shares to the Brainbees ESOP Trust, allotted at a face value of Rs 5 per share for distribution to employees under the company’s employee stock option (ESOP) scheme. The tax department is examining whether these shares should have been valued at their fair market value instead.

The notice has been issued under Sections 148A(3) and 148 of the Income Tax Act, which allow the department to reopen tax assessments if it believes income has escaped taxation.

The company clarified that no tax demand has been raised at this stage. It said the notice only initiates reassessment proceedings, and the financial impact cannot be determined until the process is completed.

Brainbees ESOP Trust stated that no taxable income has escaped assessment and believes it has a strong legal case on the merits and will take whatever legal action it deems appropriate to defend its position.