I-T claims Rs 20cr evasion by Pannu and Kashyap

Mumbai: Income Tax (I-T) department claimed to have found evidence of

cash receipts

of Rs 5 crore by actor Taapsee Pannu and her company and tax evasion of up to Rs 20 crore by Pannu, director Anurag Kashyap and others during raids carried out on Wednesday. A statement by the department also referred to discrepancies in deals worth Rs 300 crore which are linked to a now-dissolved production house part-owned by Kashyap.

The raids continued on Thursday, I-T said. In all, 28 premises belonging to Pannu, Kashyap, production houses

Phantom Films

(now dissolved) and Reliance Entertainment, talent management firms Exceed Entertainment and KWAN Talent Management Agency, and others were searched in Mumbai, Pune, Delhi & Hyderabad.

I-T officials questioned Pannu and Kashyap at a hotel in Pune where they were shooting for a movie. I-T officials said they are probing Pannu’s endorsement of over two dozen upcoming projects and the signing amounts she has received.

The department, in a statement, without identifying Pannu, said, “Evidence of cash receipts by the leading actress amounting to Rs 5 crore has been recovered. Apart from this, non-genuine/bogus expenditure to related concerns by the leading producers/director having tax implication of about Rs 20 crore has been detected. Similar findings have been made in the case of the leading actress also.”

Officials said they are investigating two tax evasion cases involving Phantom Films and people-entities associated with them. In the second case they are also investigating Pannu and a company promoted by her.

The I-T department claimed to have unearthed evidence of suppression of income by Phantom Films by comparing it to actual box office collections. “The company officials have not been able to explain the discrepancy of around Rs 300 crore. Evidence related to manipulation and under-valuation of share transactions of the production house amongst the film directors and shareholders, having tax implication of about Rs 350 crore has been found and is being further investigated,” said the statement.

Digital data in the form of emails, WhatsApp chats, hard disks, etc, has been seized during the searches, the release said. Seven bank lockers have been placed under restraint.