ITAT Clears Shreyas Anil Talpade of Alleged Cash Payments and Expense Disallowance
In a recent ruling, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Mumbai ruled in favour of Shreyas Anil Talpade, the Indian actor, film director and producer, and deleted the addition of Rs 71,00,000 and the disallowance of Rs 21,14,836.
Shreyas Anil Talpade, an actor known for his roles in both Bollywood and Marathi films, filed his income tax return (ITR) for A.Y. 2011-12, declaring an income of Rs 1,04,69,840. The return was processed and the assessment was completed in January 2014; the Income Tax Department determined his total income to be Rs 1,48,21,840.
When a search operation was carried out by the Income Tax Department on the Cosmos Group. The department found that the Cosmos group had received on-money on the sale of flats. It was claimed that Shreyas also made a cash payment of Rs 71,00,000 for the purchase of a flat in the Cosmos Spring project at Cosmos Regency. Due to this, Shreyas was sent a notice u/s. 148.
The actor, however, denied making any such cash payments, but he admitted that he had paid around Rs 5.10 lakhs in cash to the Cosmos group. As a result, the AO added Rs 71,00,000 as an unexplained cash payment under Section 69B and also disallowed expenses of Rs 16,88,584 under Section 37(1) of the Act. Shreyas initially filed an appeal before the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) [CIT(A)], but the CIT(A) also supported the AO’s decision on both the cash payment and the disallowed expenses. Therefore, the actor filed an appeal before the ITAT, Mumbai.
Shreyas argued that the reassessment was bad in law because it was based on suspicion, third-party statements, and without any solid evidence.
The actor submitted that his wife, Mrs Deepti S. Talpade, had purchased the flat for Rs 29,50,000 against the market value of Rs 15,38,100 and the same was already disclosed in her books. He claimed that it is not possible that Rs 71,00,00 would be paid for a flat whose market value is Rs 15,38,100. The ITAT also acknowledged the agreement where the property was bought for Rs 29,50,000. Therefore, the ITAT concluded that the AO’s claims were based on incorrect facts and deleted the addition of Rs 71,00,000.
Regarding the disallowance of expenses of Rs. 21,14,836 by the AO, the ITAT found that the AO had claimed that they were personal and not business-related. The expenses included cash payments for salary, bonus, trainer fees for fitness, personal security expenses, hair dressing and makeup artist expenses, etc.
While Shreyas argued that as a professional artist, expenses such as personal security, grooming, etc, were normal and were a part of his profession. He also claimed that a disallowance of cash expenses of Rs 4,26,252 was already made during the original assessment, so the further disallowance is not reasonable and must be deleted. The ITAT also supported the actor’s claim, holding that these expenses are reasonable and are a part of the actor’s profession. Accordingly, the ITAT also deleted the disallowance of Rs 21,14,836.
Case Citation:Shreyas Anil Talpade Vs ACIT 16(1) (ITAT Mumbai); ITA No.6913/MUM/2024; 31/10/2025; 2011-12
