Madras HC stays Income Tax fine of ₹1.5 Cr on actor Vijay

The Madras High Court on Tuesday (August 16) put a stay on the Income Tax department’s order of imposing a fine of ₹1.5 crore on actor Vijay for possessing undisclosed income of ₹15 crore for the financial year 2015-16.

The I-T department had fined the actor after making raids on his properties on September 30, 2015.

Justice Anita Sumanth admitted Vijay’s petition challenging the I-T department’s order issued on June 3o, and after staying the imposition of the fine in an interim order, asked the department to file its counter reply in the court by September 16.

The I-T department in its order claims that Vijay had admitted during raids at his houses that he had received ₹5 crore in cash and ₹16 crore in cheques as pay for acting in the 2015 Tamil movie Puli. He had allegedly told the I-T department that he also received an additional ₹10 crore in cash in 2015, but the same was not logged in the income tax return filed for the fiscal ending March 2016. The order also said that the actor had agreed to pay the required tax for the undisclosed amount of ₹15 crore.

The department in its order had imposed 10 per cent fine on the undisclosed amount. Vijay approached the court, stating that the fine was invalid as it was passed after the expiry of limitation period to initiate the action.