Aishwarya's NRI claim for tax sops disputed by IT authorities

Mumbai, Oct 14 (PTI) Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai has
come under the scanner of the Income Tax authorities for
claiming exemption as Non Resident Indian for money earned
abroad after winning the Miss World contest over a decade
back.
Aishwarya, 34, declared her taxable income for the the
financial year 1996-97 to be 2.14 lakh. But in 2003, the
authorities decided to reopen the assessment, as her passport
revealed that during the period she was not an N.R.I., as she
had claimed to be.
Aishwarya claimed tax exemption for Rs.26 lakh which she
had earned abroad after winning the beauty pageant during that
period on the ground that she was a non-resident Indian
(N.R.I.).
Challenging relief granted last year to Aishwarya by
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (I.T.A.T.) on this score, the
Income Tax authorities, which had decided to reopen her tax
assessment, moved an appeal in the Bombay High Court.
A Division Bench headed by Justice S Radhakrishnan
admitted the appeal on Monday.
I.T. Department's lawyer Benny Chatterjee argued that
Aishwarya's income is not being questioned, but her getting
exemption under N.R.I. category is questionable.
The key issue is whether Aishwarya - who had won Miss
World title just then - could claim to be a Non Resident
Indian for that period, he added.
She was not outside the country for 186 days within
that period, as required to qualify for income tax exemption
under the N.R.I. category, authorities said.
Therefore, she was asked to pay tax on the income of
around Rs 26 lakh earned after winning the beauty pageant.