Madras High Court issues notice to music composer A R Rahman over alleged tax evasion

The Madras High Court on Friday issued notice to legendary music composer A R Rahman on an appeal filed by the Income Tax department challenging a clean chit to him on the charge that he evaded tax by routing part of his income to a trust run by his family.

The I-T department had moved the court challenging the 2019 order of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal dismissing an order from the Principal Commissioner of Income Tax, Chennai asking him to pay Rs 3.47 crore, which is said to have been routed to A R Rahman Foundation.

The case relates to Rs 3.47 crore received by Rahman from the UK-based Libra Mobiles for composing a ringtone for the company in 2011-12. The charge against Rahman is that the entire payment was made to his foundation rather than to the music director.

If the amount had been paid to the music composer, he would have had to pay the tax. By transferring directly to the foundation, Rahman is accused of evading tax, the I-T department said.

After the Income Tax department asked Rahman to pay the amount, he moved the appellate tribunal which had rejected the claims of the department and passed an order in favour of the music composer.