Bollywood stars Katrina Kaif and Priyanka Chopra are the latest Indian celebrities to be caught up in an income tax investigation, according to Indian media reports this morning.
Indian Income Tax (I-T) department officials on Monday carried out raids at the residences and offices of the two Bollywood actresses for suspected tax evasion, reports the Hindustan Times. The raids at around a dozen of the actresses’ premises began around 0730 hours (IST) on Monday morning and will continue until evening, I-T department sources said.
Previously, actor Shah Rukh Khan was investigated over a villa he owns on Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah.
“The exact amount of tax evasion would be known in the evening after we scrutinise the documents and bank records,” a senior I-T officer told the newspaper, requesting anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to the media.
He said that the department suspects that the two actors had taken part of their payments in cash thereby concealing the actual income.
The department is also finding out if the actors had rotated their remuneration showing the same as earned from abroad for participating in shows there. Artists and certain other categories get exemption of certain percentage for income earned abroad.
The department had found cases earlier where some other actors had adjusted their fees to be paid for acting in films here with the payments received for performing in shows abroad.
“This way they sought exemption of certain percentage showing income earned abroad which actually was not,” the officer said.
Priyanka’s publicist Natasha Pal told the paper she also heard about the searches.
“But I can’t confirm it as I also don’t know. I only heard about it,” she said, while Katrina’s publicist Rohini Iyer did not respond to phone calls.
