The Hindu Business Line : Global sporting events held in India to get tax waiver

ENHANCING India's chances of hosting the Champions Trophy, the Union Cabinet on Thursday decided to amend the Income-Tax Act to exempt income of residents and non-residents arising out of any international sporting event conducted in the country.

The Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, told reporters here that the decision to provide such tax exemption was taken in view of a request from the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh.

He said that India was allowed to host the Champions Trophy only on the condition that such an exemption would be granted. "Otherwise, the event would have been allotted to some other country." Observing that such a concession would promote sporting activities in India, he said the exemption would be valid for sports other than cricket as well, provided that a sporting event is truly a multinational one and has been approved by an international body responsible for regulating the relevant sport.

Through the amendment, the Government would empower itself to notify a particular event to grant such tax exemption, he said. The Finance Minister said that the Cabinet gave its approval for amending Section 10 of the I-T Act 1961 to exempt income of both residents and non-residents arising from any international sports event conducted in the country.

The Cabinet also gave its approval for communicating its decision to the ICC for finalising the contract.

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