'Actor' Tendulkar allowed to claim tax deduction

The two-member tribunal, which gave its order on May 20, upheld the cricket legend''s argument that he was an 'actor' while appearing in commercials. Asha Vijayaraghavan, judicial member of the tribunal, and R K Panda, accountant member, gave the ruling on four appeals filed by the batting maestro against the verdict of Chief Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) for assessment years 2001-02 to 2004-2005. Tendulkar argued that he had claimed deductions under Section 80 RR of I-T Act on the ground that he was an ''actor'' while appearing in advertisements. He submitted that the CIT (A) had wrongly held that he was not an actor as cricket was his principal profession. Tendulkar further argued that he was a cricketer and not a professional actor. He submitted his appearances in advertisements made him an actor and thus he was entitled to deductions. Moreover, he argued that such deductions had been allowed to him earlier. He cited cases of popular figures like Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Tarun Tahilyani and Harsha Bhogale, who had also claimed deductions from their income through advertisements. "In the present case, the assessee, while appearing in advertisements and commercials, has to face the lights and camera. As a model, the assessee brings to his work a degree of imagination, creativity and skill to arrange elements in a manner that would affect human senses and emotions and to have an aesthetic value," the tribunal held. – www.pti.com