Mahesh Babu, whose bank accounts were attached by the GST department over non-payment of service tax, in a statement, said that the authorities did so without notice. Stating that he was a law abiding citizen, the actor clarified that the issue was currently pending before the High Court.
The Hyderabad GST Commissionarate, through a press release issued earlier this week, had said that Mahesh Babu had not paid the service tax for the financial year 2007-2008 for the taxable services offered by him as a brand ambassador, and for promotional activities of products. Subsequently, the authorities went ahead and attached his bank accounts.
“The total tax due from him was Rs 1.85 million. Today, the GST department has attached his bank accounts in Axis Bank and ICICI Bank for an amount of Rs 7.35 million, which includes tax, interest and penalty,” read the press release.
However, Mahesh Babu’s lawyers have now come out with a statement saying that the services rendered by the actor as a brand ambassador were not deemed taxable during 2007-2008. “The brand ambassador services were brought under the statute by insertion of section 65(105) with effect from 1-7-2010,” read the statement.
The statement further went on to read “The GST commissionerate has carried out the attachment without notice when several judicial pronouncements on the issue were in favour of the taxpayer and more so when the dispute is pending before the High Court.”
Official Press Note From Legal Team Of Mahesh Babu pic.twitter.com/zlPd2vyQfP
— BARaju (@baraju_SuperHit) December 28, 2018
A senior official from the GST department had said in a Business Standard report that the actor had failed to obtain a reprieve from an appellate authority. “We have attached the bank accounts and started recovering… We have recovered Rs 4.2 million from Axis Bank today,” said the source.”
Earlier this month, actor Prabhas’ guest house in Rai Durgam, Telangana was seized by revenue officials of Serilingampaly.
