Katrina Kaif gets tax tribunal clean chit after I-T sleuths flag cash deal

Kaif had acknowledged having received Rs 2.07 crore in cheque

Bollywood actor Katrina Kaif was recently given a clean chit by the income tax tribunal in a case where her talent management firm Matrix allegedly made a cash payment to her, which tax sleuths thought could have been black money.   

The Economic Times, which reported the development, said that earlier, officers of the income tax department came across a laptop belonging to a Matrix employee and an excel spreadsheet where there was a mention of a cheque payment of Rs 2.07 crore and a cash payment of Rs 58 lakh against Kaif's name. 

The laptop belonged to Sandhya Ramchandra, the financial daily added. 

However, the tax tribunal said that the belongings could not be considered direct evidence, the report said. 

Headed by Reshma Shetty, Matrix has some big shots on its list of clients, including Kareena Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, and Salman Khan, among others.

"Evidence from a third party, even a connected person, in the absence of any concrete proof, is not adequate to sustain the addition (of income) —unless the department makes great efforts to bring on record some extra evidence," senior chartered accountant Dilip Lakhani told the financial daily. 

Kaif, however, acknowledged having received Rs 2.07 crore through cheque.