Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Monday, May 05, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Monday, May 05, 2003 |
|
|
|
|
|
Home Page
-
Sports Industry & Economy - Income Tax No income-tax sops for crorepati sportstars Nithya Subramanian
NEW DELHI, May 4 SACHIN Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly or Vishwanathan Anand may not be able to avail themselves of the proposed tax incentive for sportspersons announced by the Finance Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, last week. For, Finance Ministry sources say that for being eligible for deduction up to Rs 75,000, the Government is considering fixing maximum income level for availing the benefits. . Going by the thinking behind the proposed scheme, officials said that sportspersons receiving professional fee over the maximum stipulated amount would not be eligible for the special tax deduction. "The idea is to encourage sportspersons participating in the local and domestic levels and not the celebrity stars," said Revenue Department officials. Also, since sports such as cricket already attracts a lot of money by way of endorsements and sponsorship, the tax incentive has been announced with the view to helping sportspersons in other sports that do not receive much money. Volleyball, hockey, athletics, for instance, do not get the financial support like cricket does, officials said. However, a final decision on the special incentives will be taken after consultations with the Sports Ministry. Last week, the Finance Minister, in his reply to the Finance Bill, said that sports need promotion and so a deduction of up to Rs 75,000 from the income received as professional fee for participating in games and sports would be allowed. The Ministry had received a suggestion that income of sportspersons up to the age of 30 years be exempt from income-tax. Current income by way of both cash and kind from certain specified institutions are exempt from income-tax. However, tax consultants said that the income-tax benefits offered to sportspersons are very minimal. For instance, under Section 88 of the Income-Tax Act, sportspersons are eligible for a higher rebate on life insurance premia, contribution to provident fund and other such investments.
Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication
|
Stories in this Section |
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | The Hindu eBooks | Home |
Copyright © 2003, The
Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu Business Line
|