Anushka Sharma takes the Sales Tax Department’s orders to the High Court.
Anushka Sharma filed a petition with the Bombay High Court to challenge two decisions made by the deputy commissioner of sales tax that raised the amount of tax owed for the assessment years of 2012–2013 and 2013–2014 under the Maharashtra Value Added Tax Act. Justices Nitin Jamdar and Abhay Ahuja, sitting as a split bench, told the sales tax department on Thursday to address her concerns and set a follow-up hearing for February 6.
The actress Anushka Sharma takes the Maha VAT Act sales tax department’s orders to the Bombay High Court.
Sharma has asked the court to overturn and cancel the Sales Tax Department’s decisions. She has put in four petitions for the years 2012–2013, 2013–2014, 2014–2015, and 2015–2016.
The actor filed the applications last week. In December 2022, Sharma’s tax advisor, Shrikant Velekar, asked the High Court to hear his case against the Sales Tax Department’s orders, but the court turned him down. Then, the HC said that there was no reason why Anushka, the person who was hurt, couldn’t file the petitions on her own. In response to Sharma’s requests, she made a deal with her agent, Yashraj Films Pvt. Ltd., and producers and event organisers to act in movies and perform at award ceremonies.
Sales tax demands, including interest, ranged from 1.2 crore for a transaction worth 12.3 crore in 2012–13 to 1.6 crore for a transaction worth about 17 crore in 2013–14. The sales tax division agreed to the orders for 2021 and 2022. In her petitions, the performer said that there is no way to file an appeal with the appellate body unless 10% of the tax in question is paid.
The petitions said that the assessing officer made a mistake when he or she decided that she had gotten copyrights and sold or given them away because she promoted products and went to award ceremonies. The arguments said that the copyrights always belong to the producer, who is also the owner of the videos.
“Sales tax can’t be collected unless it’s clear that goods (real or not) are being bought and sold.”
The claims were made. Sharma said that an actor who has a part in a movie can’t be called the creator or producer of the movie, so he or she doesn’t own the movie’s copyrights.
According to the petitions, “the petitioner submits that as an actor does not own any copyright in the film, the question of transferring or selling the same to any other person or producer does not arise,” because actors do not own any copyright in the movie. The arguments said that Sharma’s performer’s rights should be made clear to whoever she has given them to if she has done so in line with the Sales Tax Department.
In her court papers, the actor said that her rights were there to “protect the actor’s interests and could not be sold or given away.” Anushka Sharma is known for her roles in movies like PK, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, Sultan, and more.
