IT department asks SRK to pay tax on his sprawling villa in Dubai

Shah Rukh Khan once again seems to have come under the scan of the Income Tax (I.T) Department, this time for his sprawling Signature villa at the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai. While SRK has claimed that he received the villa as a gift from Nakheel Public Joint Stock Company (Nakheel PJSC) 3 years ago, the IT authorities believe that the villa was given to Khan instead of an endorsement fee for promoting the said company.


The Signature villa owned by Khan is pegged at a whopping Rs 17.84 crore. For the assessment year 2008-09, Khan had, in April 2009, filed returns declaring income of Rs 126.31 crore. He said his income was from house, property, profession, capital gains and other sources. I-T department, however, assessed that the Villa was taxable and accordingly a notice was issued to Khan. The actor sent a reply to an initial notice on November 26, 2010, stating that the gift did not constitute his income from business or profession. Nakheel, too, submitted a letter to the I-T department in October 2010, stating that Khan had not provided any professional services. The company clarified that the actor attended the Annual day function as a gesture of friendship towards Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Nakheel PJSC's executive chairman. 


However, the I-T department wasn't convinced and issued yet another notice on December 27, 2010 stating that Nakheel was using the brand name for endorsing its Palm Project since 2004 on its official website and electronic and print media. Also, Khan did not show any receipts related to the endorsement. Since Khan is known to charge huge fees for his other endorsements, the IT department authorities grew increasingly suspicious as to how the actor was promoting this brand without charging any fees. 


One will have to wait and watch if the actor indeed ends up paying tax for this sprawling property of his in the days to come.