CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Friday upheld a Rs 1.50 crore income tax penalty imposed on actor and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief Vijay for alleged concealment of income related to remuneration received for his role in the 2015 Tamil film Puli, dismissing his petition challenging the order.
Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy held that the penalty order, passed by the Income Tax Department on June 30, 2022, was within the prescribed time limit and found no infirmity warranting interference.
While dismissing the petition, the court granted Vijay liberty to approach the appellate authority.
Why was Vijay fined Rs 1.50 crore by the IT Department?
The case dates back to 2015, when Income Tax officials conducted a search at Vijay’s residence and office and seized documents.
For the financial year 2015-16, Vijay had declared an income of Rs 35.42 crore.
However, during assessment proceedings, officials found that he had allegedly failed to disclose Rs 15 crore received as remuneration for acting in Puli, including nearly Rs 5 crore allegedly paid in cash.
Before the High Court, Vijay contended that the Income Tax Department’s order was time-barred, as the statutory deadline had expired on June 30, 2019. Since the order was issued only in 2022, he argued that it was liable to be set aside.
Opposing this, the Income Tax Department submitted that the penalty was imposed in accordance with the Income Tax Act and that the order was passed within the prescribed time limit, arising from proceedings linked to the 2015 search.
The Madras High Court had earlier granted an interim stay on the penalty, and after hearing arguments from both sides, Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy had reserved orders on January 23.
With Online Desk inputs