MUMBAI: Looks like bad fortune never leaves Anurag Kashyap’s side. ‘Bombay Velvet’, which is currently shooting in Sri Lanka, has gone over-budget because of the depreciation of the Indian rupee, and now the director has been found guilty of a service tax evasion.
A team of officers from the Service Tax Department visited Anurag Kashyap’s office at Yari Road on 26 August between 2 pm to 10:30 pm and found him “guilty of Service Tax evasion to the tune of Rs 55 lakhs.” The source also added, “He should have paid this amount last year. Discrepancies have been noted in his private accounts.”
Anurag Kashyap was then summoned to appear before the Service Tax Commission on 27 August. But as he was still in Sri Lanka, he sent a representative. On the following day, his bank accounts were frozen, and now the ‘Gangs Of Wasseypur’ director has asked time till 3 September.
The source explained how a filmmaker could evade the service tax. “For one, he can sell the film to a studio /corporate, charge Service Tax from them, and not pay the same to the government. It is a very serious offence,” he said.
Sameer Wankhede, Deputy Commissioner of the Service Tax Department confirmed that a case had been booked against Anurag Kashyap.
A Service Tax official, on condition of anonymity, said, “Section 89 of the Finance Act says that if you have not paid your service tax to the tune of Rs 50 lakh for a period of six months, the defaulter can face imprisonment for a period of seven years and it is a nonbailable offence. As of now, we have detected that Anurag has defaulted on over Rs 50 lakh. Probe is on.”
If the allegations turn out to be true, it looks like Anurag Kashyap will have landed himself into a soup. The shooting for ‘Bombay Velvet’ may be further postponed too. Tough times ahead!
‘Bombay Velvet’ starring Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma and Karan Johar is set to release on 25 December, 2014.
