A day before it announces its results for 2003-04, information technology company Wipro has decided to be silent on how it would respond to an income-tax demand notice of Rs 261 crore (Rs 2.61 billion) served to it earlier this month.

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Asked about reports that the company has approached the Prime Minister's Office for redressal, a Wipro spokesperson told PTI from Bangalore: "We are in a silent period. We would not like to comment anything on the matter. Tomorrow we are declaring our annual results."

The Income Tax Department has served a Rs 261.4 crore demand notice to Wipro pertaining to its software profits.

The issue pertains to a demand raised by the Income Tax Department on the company by denying it tax holiday on some of its units located in Bangalore Software Technology Park under section 10A of I-T Act which gives a 10-year tax holiday for setting up such units in export processing zones.

The company had earlier stated that it would appeal against the notice.

"We have been served with a demand of Rs 261.4 crore by the assessing officer pursuant to an assessment under the Income Tax act, 1961, primarily on account of denial of the deduction under Section 10A for the software profit we earn out of STP units located in Bangalore," Wipro company secretary V Ramachandran had said in a statement earlier.

"We have decided to file an appeal before the Commissioner (Appeals), the first appellate authority," Wipro had said.

While Wipro is facing a tax demand of Rs 261 crore, Infosys on Thursday said it had not received any such notice from the Income Tax Department.

"The tax holiday is to end by 2009. In our case we have applied for fresh new STP licence for each of the units set up inside an STP for availing the tax exemption benefits under the I-T Act," Infosys CEO and managing director Nandan Nilekani said in New Delhi.

Another IT major, TCS, has also been slapped with a notice by I-T department.

The department has served a notice on Tata Sons Ltd, the holding company of Tata Consultancy Services, to pay additional tax of close to Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion), citing that TCS was not eligible for certain tax benefits availed by it.