Celebrities under excise dept scanner

The service tax wing of the Central Excise and Customs is looking to shore up revenues from a new segment - Celebrities. Sportspersons, film personalities and the like.

For, those who provide endorsements for commercial puposes are also within the purview of service tax and will thus have to pay up service tax.

Director General of Service Tax, K P Singh, who was in the city on Wednesday, was quite clear in sounding an alarm bell for all celebrities, who endorse products on a commercial basis.

"We are compiling a list of all celebrities who endorse products and will write letters to them, asking them to pay up. If they voluntarily come over and pay up service tax, it will be an ideal situation, or the law will then take its course, irrespective of the person involved," he warned.

Stating that celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai - all of whom also endorse products - have already come forward and paid up service tax along with interest, Singh added - "However, there are many others who are still getting away with it, but this will not continue any longer."

Turning to chief commissioner, central excise-Ahmedabad Range, S C Mathur, Singh said - "You have you own celebrities here too like Parthiv Patel and Irfan Pathan here. Have they paid service tax as yet." Even as officials said they would look up the records, Singh said.

"In either case, a comprehensive list of all celebrities and brand ambassadors that have been endorsing products, is being compiled. They will get our letters and we expect them to come forward and comply with the law."

Meanwhile, the e-return filing scheme of the service tax wing of the Central Excise and Customs Department has found few takers. The scheme was launched recently to facilitate payments using the net, without having to visit a central excise office.

"This scheme was launched for the organised sector and large corporates, who can eliminate the process of physically having to visit a service tax office and file returns. The government had launched this offer after careful deliberating. But if they (payers) do not want to see our face, we also do not want to see their face. We would rather spend our time more profitably," said Singh.

He added that the organised sector, as also larger corporates were expected to make use of the e-return scheme of service, but they have not made use of it.