MUMBAI: The Indian Premier League (IPL), cash cow for the Board of Control for Cricket in India, has also contributed considerably to the national exchequer.
The BCCI has paid Rs 35 billion in taxes to the Income Tax department since IPL’s inception in 2008, The Times of India reports.
The tax department has classified the annual Twenty20 cricketing event as commercial activity and refused to grant an exemption to the board which is registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act as a charitable organisation promoting the growth and development of cricket in the country.
The report notes that till date the cricketing board has earned approximately Rs 120 billion from the IPL.
The board hopes to recover some of the taxes paid as it has challenged the 30 per cent tax demand in the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) and filed a writ petition in the Bombay High Court anticipating that it may get a favourable judgement that it be assessed as a non-profit body.
The cricketing board in January paid Rs 1 billion income tax under protest to the I-T department for the financial year 2013-14 but managed to get stay against the balance amount pending a final judgment.
