Supreme Court seeks Amitabh Bachchan's response on I-T petition

DELHI: The Supreme Court has sought a response from actor Amitabh Bachchan on a petition by the income tax department, which claims that he owes Rs 1.66 crore in tax for the assessment year 2001-2002.

A two-judge bench issued a notice to the actor after hearing arguments of the I-T department's counsel and additional solicitor general Mohan Parasaran.

The income tax department had moved the apex court challenging a Bombay High Court order of February 29, 2012, which disallowed the department from re-opening the case relating to the actor's tax returns. The high court had held that the department cannot re-open the file if there had been no fault with the assessing officer's order.

The I-T department had argued that it needed to re-open the case as the actor had sought deductions on certain expenses showed by him. The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal had earlier rejected the department's plea.

The tax authority told the apex court that the actor had assessed his taxable income for 2001-2002 at Rs 4.6 crore in his return filed on October 31, 2001. This included income from Kaun Banega Crorepati, a popular television quiz show hosted by the actor.

The department said Bachchan revised his taxable income a year later to Rs 6.08 crore. He said of Rs 23 crore that he received from the quiz show at the time, only 30% was taxable as the rest had gone to AB Corporation Ltd, an entertainment and film production company founded by him.