JOIN USBCCI will appeal against penalty
“BCCI is a registered charitable institution. I am not aware under what circumstances they (the IT Department) have made this assessment that we will have to pay Rs 120 crore as tax. However, we are yet to receive their order and once we get it, we will appeal against it,” Pandove told PTI.
The IT department has reportedly passed an interim order, terming BCCI as a commercial organisation and not a charitable one. Sources said the BCCI has not informed the tax department about a number of its activities like establishing coaching centres, conducting Twenty20 tournaments and other commercial ventures conducted within and outside the country.
Pandove said he had only learnt about the order through media reports. “Once we get the order, we will study it and then go in for appeal,” he said. Asked for his remark on IT department’s allegation about the Board’s commercial activities, Pandove said, “I would not like to comment on this”. He, however, was categorical in saying that BCCI continued to be a registered charitable body.
Ironically, the Punjab Cricket Association, of which Pandove is the Secretary, had also drawn flak from the IT Department for carrying out commercial activities in the past. PCA was registered as Society under Indian Societies Registration Act and had been exempted from paying tax under Section 12 (A) of the Income Tax Act.