Multi-crore Bollywood Tax Evasion Probe: 10 Things To Know
The Income Tax department's scrutiny into alleged tax evasion by actress Taapsee Pannu, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap and others is still on. Here's what we know so far from the investigation.
* As part of a tax evasion probe against Phantom Films, the Income Tax department has carried out across 28 locations in Mumbai and Pune. The search operation reportedly covered Reliance Entertainment group CEO Shibhasish Sarkar and some executives of celebrity and talent management companies KWAN and Exceed.
* The Income Tax department claims it has unearthed evidence of massive suppression of income by the leading Film Production house compared to the actual box office collections.
* Tax sleuths say there is a discrepancy of around Rs 300 crore.
* Officials say that company staff have allegedly not been unable to explain the discrepancy.
* Officials say they have stumbled upon proof that allegedly points towards manipulation and under-valuation of share transactions of the production house amongst film directors and shareholders.
* Alleged share manipulation, which could have a tax implication of Rs 350 crore, is under investigation.
* Income Tax officials are also investigating cash receipts to the tune of Rs 5 crore recovered from the leading actress.
* The officials also allegedly stumbled upon non-genuine/bogus expenditure to related concerns by the leading producers/director having tax implication of about Rs 20 crore.
* Properties linked to Madhu Mantena's KWAN Talent Management Agency in Mumbai were among those raided by I-T officials.
* Digital data like emails, WhatsApp chats and hard disks have been retrieved. Around seven lockers have been put under restraint.