Haven't broken any law, Sonu Sood says on tax evasion allegations: Report

The actor who started his philanthropic efforts during the Covid crisis, has been accused of evading taxes worth Rs. 20 crore

Actor-philanthropist Sonu Sood denied all allegations of tax evasion that were levelled against him by the Income Tax Department.

Sood made the comments during an interview with news channel NDTV and also called himself a law abiding citizen.

The actor who started his philanthropic efforts during the Covid-19 crisis has been accused of evading tax worth Rs 20 crore. Further, the I-T Department also said that the charity set up by him collected donations of over Rs 18 crore but only about Rs 2 crore was spent on relief work.

Calling this allegation surprising, he said that all of the money is not just collected by donations, and that some of it was also remunerations from brand endorsements. He added that the money was not lying around for years but the last 3-4 months as he needed to do his due diligence before donating to a cause.

Also Read | Been busy attending to guests: Sonu Sood after I-T raids

The I-T Department also accused him of received illegal foreign funding to which he replied that he "can't get a single dollar into his account."

According to the actor, the I-T sleuths agreed that he had done “good work”.

“Whatever documents, details they asked for, we gave. Whatever questions they asked, I answered. I did my part, they did theirs. Whatever questions they raised, we answered each and every one of them with documents. That's my duty. We are still providing documents…it is part of the process,” the actor said in the interview.

While some parties have linked the raids to his recent collaboration with Aam Aadmi Party for an education mentorship, the actor said he is not allying himself with any political party.

Also Read | Sonu Sood evaded Rs 20 crore in taxes, says I-T Department

Sonu Sood also revealed that he had turned away offers of a Rajya Sabha membership because he was not yet ready for politics.

For now, he said, he would continue with his charity, no matter what. “I didn't start to stop. It's just the beginning.”

Earlier on Monday, the 48-year-old took to Twitter on Monday to give his side of the story after last week’s raid at his Mumbai residence and office and at a dozen places in the country including Lucknow and Jaipur.

"Every rupee in my foundation is awaiting its turn to save a precious life and reach the needy. In addition, on many occasions, I have encouraged brands to donate my endorsement fees for humanitarian causes too, which keeps us going,” the actor wrote in a statement.

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