High court admits income tax appeal against Shah Rukh

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday admitted an appeal filed by the Income Tax (IT) department against actor Shah Rukh Khan for the tax deductions allowed on his income earned as the brand ambassador for Swiss luxury watch company Omega.

The IT department had challenged an order of the Income Tax Apellete Tribunal (ITAT) passed in December 2008 allowing a tax exemption to Khan under section 80RR of the IT Act.

The section 80RR, refers to Indian authors, playwrights, artists, musicians, sportsmen and actors who receive income from foreign parties for their work. In such cases, under section 80RR 75% of the total income obtained from the foreign government is exempted from tax.

The Bollywood superstar had declared an income of close to Rs20 crore in the assessment year of 2002-03. This included the Rs29 lakh that he stated he had earned as Omega's brand ambassador. The tax liability on that income, according to the IT department, was Rs4.05 lakh.

The IT department had contested the decision of the ITAT stating that the tribunal did not examine whether Khan's income from Omega qualifies as "professional income," and instead of allowing the appeal filed by the actor against the IT department, the assessing officer should have been allowed to probe whether the Rs29 lakh that Omega paid Khan qualified for an exemption under section 80RR.

The actor had contended that modelling for various brands was a part of his profession as an actor and the income received thereby was his professional income.

In June, HC had admitted another appeal filed by the department against Khan where he had sought deductions under section 80RR on Rs19.43 lakh earned in 1998-99 from Jeanne Arthes Perfume for fragrances named after him.

The appeal will come before the court for final hearing in due course.

Exempt or not
The IT department had challenged an order of the Income Tax Apellete Tribunal (ITAT) passed in December 2008 allowing a tax exemption to Khan under section 80RR of the IT Act. The section 80RR, refers to Indian authors, playwrights, artists, musicians, sportsmen and actors who receive income from foreign parties for their work. In such cases, under section 80RR, 75% of the total income obtained from the foreign government is exempted from tax.

Shahrukh faces Farah's challenge

Shahrukh Khan might consider My Name Is Khan as the biggest movie of his career but a bigger challenge lies ahead for King Khan. Shahrukh has to shoot for Farah Khan's Happy New Year. The script requires Shahrukh to again work on his body first time since the blockbuster Om Shanti Om. Believe it or not Shahrukh is all set to sport eight pack abs in the movie.

It may be recalled that Shahrukh had to undergo a surgery after injuring his shoulder while shooting for Vivek Vaswani's Dulha Mil Gaya. The actor who is under the treatment of renowned physiotherapist under the treatment of Dr. Ali Irani has been medically advised to take it easy. His shoulder is still very weak and in no condition to take up weight training.

A determined Shahrukh shot most of My Name Is Khan in pain but he is no condition to work out on his muscles right now. Happy New Year was to hit the floors by the end of the year but with delay in My Name Is Khan and Shahrukh's sci-fi thriller Ra 1 the movies is likely to be pushed to 2010. Happy New Year will star Deepika Padukone opposite Shahrukh.

Can’t beat SRK at humour!

Shah Rukh Khan recently joked that the only reason he entered into an alliance with a foreign studio is because they shared a surname with Hollywood hottie Megan Fox; and would even organise for him to get married to her!

Hollywood hotties apart, King Khan is now flying to USA with Bollywood beauties Kareena Kapoor and Katrina Kaif for a show organised by his friends. We hear that Saif Ali Khan will also be accompanying them.

On his return on August 19, SRK will join the Mumbai schedule of his home production My Name Is Khan (MNIK).
“MNIK is only a film title,” said Shah Rukh, “We hope that others called Khan will not take any legal objection to it!”

Honestly, when it comes to humour, you just can’t beat Shah Rukh!

SRK, the four-pack Khan!

When King Khan developed those six-packs for Om Shanti Om, his built made more news than his acting.

Suddenly, there seemed to be a more-and-more packs race in Bollywood, with Aamir going for an eight-pack look in Ghajini.

But, from what we have heard lately, SRK now has four, not six packs.

Two of them have disappeared because of his health lately. Will that reduce his fan following? No way, since his countless fans don’t give a damn to his packs. What matters to them is his charm, which continues to increase with each passing day.

Shah Rukh Khan to go live 24X7

With the burst of reality shows, Shah Rukh has also leaped into the trend – but with a difference! He has decided to go 24X7 public through a first of its kind show! A leading lifestyle channel Discovery Travel & Living is to do a show King Khan.

It will be produced jointly by SRK`s own Red Chillie Idiot Box along with Blu Mango films. Addressing a press meet about the show, Shah Rukh said that he was very excited about the concept. Rahul Johri, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the TV Channel said that they were thrilled to work with a star like SRK.

With this kind of exposure, it would be hard to imagine of a personal life for the megastar and his family. His wife Gauri Khan was unavailable for comment on this show, which is bound to equally infringing her privacy as well.

Though Shah Rukh has been known for his uncanny business skills, this particular step seems a bit overboard - almost like selling a part of his life to media!

Shahrukh, a voracious reader!

Shahrukh Khan is a sucker for knowledge. He has a great collection of books at home and has lately turned to the books that are online.

Believe it or not, the superstar is learnt to have downloaded about 300 books online. This enables him to keep reading new stuff even when he’s traveling. And he urges his fans to take up the habit of reading.

“Whatever it takes, read a lot in whichever medium you feel comfortable. Personally, reading is the nicest thing which can happen to me,” Shahrukh is quoted by a news agency.

Interestingly, while SRK is seen as a man who gets along well even with his worst detractors, the actor confesses he doesn’t have much social etiquettes.

“I don't have social etiquettes. I am socially not very capable. I really can’t do that 'Hi how are you.. I am shopping here...here is a pic of my dog...',” SRK said, showing his characteristic humour again.

Among the other Khans in the industry, Aamir Khan and Saif Ali Khan are also very fond of reading books. Till recently Saif was reading a graphic book on Buddha, while Aamir loves to read history.

Shah Rukh, Salman and Vivek Oberoi in a crazy drama

Possibly, if you had encountered this, you would’ve marked the best verdict – ‘Ever biggest show by Khans’. Even an intellectual screenwriter wouldn’t have penned such an interesting narration with all three stars and their ‘face-off’ tactics.

It was a glitzy affair with cream-n-elite groups of B-town heading to wish Ramesh Taurani (TIPS Films head honcho) on his 25th wedding anniversary at a five star hotel last night in Mumbai. Shah Rukh dropped himself for the occasion puffing stylishly when Sohail Khan was present. It’s interesting to note that once King Khan moved away after 10mins of wishing the Mr. & Mrs. Taurani, Salman Khan entered the hotel through backdoor.

We aren’t sure whether Salman Khan had waited for Sohail’s call or Sohail himself controlled his Bhaiyya to avoid hassles.

But here’s something more interesting as the focus shifts towards Vivek Oberoi. The actor, who was spotted chilling out with his friends immediately rushed out of hotel once Salman came in. It’s really puzzling to see Vivek pushing his driver to next seat and hurriedly driving out…

Shahrukh Khan: ‘My Name is Khan' is about relationships

Shahrukh Khan can never be out of focus from media's eyes and neither the actor allows media to do so as he is continuously up to some project and media just can't ignore that.

SRK said, “This film is not about terrorism, instead it is film that talks about the relationship, between two people, between a village then city, country and among the world, like the way Karan's film are. We have taken some elements like the western culture, we have taken Islam, we have included a neuro-tipical personality syndrome and Kajol has a very immence role to play in the movie as she is the solid corner stone of the film.”

Karan story of My Name is Khan left the actor dazing as he can well be seen so much attached to the movie that he expresses the elements of the film well in detail.