Several big stars of the Telugu film industry have finally paid their professional tax arrears after being served with notices by the commercial taxes department (CTD). Among those who cleared their dues are actors Chiranjeevi , N.T.R Jr, Aryan Rajesh and Naresh , directors K.Raghavendra Rao and E.V.V. Satyanarayana and cinematographer Vincent. Actors Nagarjuna and Venkatesh have also acknowledged the notices by sending their auditors to the CTD with an assurance to clear the dues soon.

This newspaper had carried in these columns (on May 11) a report on large scale evasion of professional tax by the film industry. Following the report the Jubilee Hills circle of the CTD served about 80 notices against the defaulters. Some of these defaulters promptly reacted and cleared their dues while a few chose to ignore them. The CTD is finding especially difficult to recover taxes from the actresses. "Most leading actress do not have a residential address in the State. As a result the notices have bounced," a senior CTD official said adding that the department would take up the issue with the Movie Artists’ Association and make the actress pay the professional tax.

Barring thespian Akkineni Nageswara Rao none of the actors, directors or technicians had paid the tax which amounts to only about Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,500 annually.

Official sources revealed that Chiranjeevi was prompt in paying his taxes till 2002 but there has been lapses in payment thereafter. Sources said that the actor’s brother-in-law and producer Allu Aravind has recently cleared all his dues. He has also enrolled his own son, Allu Arjun , as professional tax payer. "We have served notices under Section (4) of the AP Pofessional Tax Act of 1987. Some individuals have paid up. Some notices have bounced due to nonavailability of the persons and in some cases the individuals have refused to accept the notice. We will issue a second notice and take action if they do not respond soon," said Panjagutta deputy commissioner of commercial taxes Amrutha Lakshmi.

"Veteran actress Jamuna wrote to the department informing that she was no longer an actress and is a housewife now. She pleaded that she should be exempted from the list of professional tax payers," sources said. With many film professionals not being enrolled with the department, the CTD had to take their address from their respective film associations to serve notices.




source:telugustyle