IPL second edition to come under tax net

The multi-million dollar Indian Premier League (IPL), 2009, may come under the tax net even though it was held outside the country, in South Africa.

Income Tax sources said the IPL will fetch revenue under the Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) category as the department feels the tournament, although played outside the country, was conducted by the BCCI, which is registered in India.

They said the IPL, held in April-May this year, is not registered as a separate organisation and will fetch revenue as section 194E of the I-T Act enables deduction at source at the rate of 10 per cent before a fee is paid to a non-resident sportsperson.

The BCCI has filed its returns for 2008-09 with the I-T department a few days back.

The IPL's second edition was played in South Africa after its schedule clashed with the general elections and the government said it could not provide security for the matches.

The sources said the CBDT notification of August last year which categorises services rendered by sportsmen, umpires and referees, coaches and trainers, team physicians and physiotherapists, event managers, commentators, anchors and sport columnists as "professional services" under section 194J of the Income Tax Act, 1961, also formed the basis of this decision.

A probable notification in this regard can also be expected soon, a senior Finance Ministry official said here.

The first IPL edition fetched a whopping Rs 91 crore as income tax.