INCOME NOTICES TO 4 IPL FRANCHISEES SOON

The Income Tax department has claimed to have found defaults in the payment of TDS returns by the IPL franchises to various service providers in its ongoing probe into the tournament's finances.

The department in its initial probe has claimed to have found discrepancies by various IPL franchises under the Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) category while making payments to cricket players, commentators, event managers and anchors among others.

The anomalies have been found in account books and payment documents which the department has taken during its operations in the IPL probe. "The discrepancies have been found under the TDS payment categories. The inquiry is still on and once all the franchises are scrutinised, they will be sent notices," a senior I-T official said.

The department is also currently scrutinising documents that various I-T offices have taken from franchises after it conducted nationwide survey operations on them, with the first being on April 15 at the IPL and BCCI premises in Mumbai.

Sportspersons, umpires, referees, coaches, trainers, team physicians and physiotherapists, event managers, commentators, anchors, and sports columnists have been categorised as "professionals" and their services have been brought under the TDS bracket in 2008 by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).

I-T department sources also said that once the probe establishes tax evasion in the T20 tournament, all the notices and legal procedures will be addressed to the BCCI and not the IPL as it is a legal entity under the Societies Registration Act.