Income Tax sleuths raid UP YouTuber's house with annual income of Rs 1 crore

Income tax sleuths have raided a YouTuber's house in Uttar Pradesh who allegedly is earning nearly Rs 1 crore through YouTube videos.

As per a report in NDTV, the man called Taslim is being probed by the tax department for earning nearly Rs 1 crore through illegal means.

However, Taslim's family has refuted these allegations.


Taslim, who hails from Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, runs a YouTube channel called 'Trading Hub 3.0' where he creates videos related to the share market.

According to his brother, Feroze, Taslim pays income tax on his earnings and claims that they have already paid Rs 4 lakh in taxes on their total YouTube income of Rs 1.2 crore.

"We do not engage in any illegal activities. We run a legitimate YouTube channel, through which we earn a decent income. This raid is a well-planned conspiracy," Feroze told NDTV.

Taslim's mother has also alleged that the YouTuber is being falsely implicated in the case.

The income-tax department has launched a probe against certain social media influencers and content creators on platforms like YouTube and Instagram for allegedly not showing their income and profits commensurate with their earnings, newswire agency PTI recently reported, citing official sources.

Quoting sources in the tax department, the report said that many such online content creators are not showing or under-reporting it in their income tax returns (ITRs) or filings, largely due to ignorance of tax laws.

There are contraditions among tax experts about the tax on vloggers. In an article in CNBC, some opined that the vloggers can be treated as entrepreneurs, and hence tax audit will be applicable to them if their income exceeds Rs 1 crore. However, if they are spending less time on creating online content vis-a-vis their regular job or profession, then the income from such content could be treated as "Income from other sources" and hence should be taxed as per income tax slab rates, said some experts.