Bollywood Big Shoots Are On The Focus Of Taxmen

Among the high-pitched hunt for hidden equities of the rich and famous, actor Shah Rukh Khan has received a notice from the Income Tax Department. The tax office asked him to reveal out all the details of his investments in the offshore destinations. In another development, the top production house have received memos from the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) asking them to reveal out all the amounts paid to stars like Aamir khan and Ranveer Singh.

The tax office is looking for all the details of Khan’s investments in the destinations such as Bermuda, British Virgin Islands (BVI) and Dubai. While the tax authorities are sitting on a mountain of information on the offshore investments by all the Indians, it is not that clear whether the department has any prime facie evidence to believe that Khan’s overseas assets reflect his hidden wealth.

The notice was sent under section 131 of the Income Tax Act, which permits the tax authorities to conduct all the necessary enquiries. The income tax department appears is going beyond the actor’s hidden ownership of the shares of companies in tax covers to take out all the information such as the activities of all these outfits.

According to the industry sources, besides Khan, there are few industrialists who have structured investments through Singapore and have received similar notices. It happens at a time,  when the government focused by its promise to reveal black money which  is going after wealthy Indians who did not declare their overseas bank accounts and the assets such as properties and stocks in the quasi amnesty scheme last year. The notices to few celebrities may be directed at reminding the rich people that they should become clean under the ongoing Income Declaration Scheme (IDC), which is being aggressively marketed by the finance ministry.

Many businessmen, top notch professionals and all the actors have used the liberalised remittance scheme of the Reserve Bank of India to purchase apartments and the stock abroad.

Many in order to rescue the estate duty, bought into shell companies in Jersey to invest in London’s property market. The scheme allows investment in almost all the markets excepting other countries. Some businessmen have used their Indian companies to invest in abroad as rules allow a local company to invest up to 400% of its net worth in an overseas joint enterprise or wholly owned additionally.

Meanwhile, the service tax division of the CBEC has reportedly asked the actors to reveal all the payments which have been received from few films like that of Yash Raj Films and Salman Khan Films. Sources in the glamour world believe that the taxman is searching for high profile defaulters as the duty of depositing the service tax falls on the actors.

Service tax division has recently sent few letters to the Yash Raj Films, Salman Khan Films and the actors including actors like Aamir khan and Ranveer Singh, to reveal all the payments details.

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