Pune: Government officials said on Friday that 175 crores of income tax was waived from Shri Sai Baba Temple Trust of Shirdi” for the last three years.
It is mentioned in the ‘release’ issued by the Income Tax Department that the income tax has been waived by order of the Supreme Court. It is further mentioned that, while assessing the tax for the financial year 2015-16, the Income Tax Department told that ‘Shri Sai baba Institution’ is not a spiritual trust but a charitable trust. Therefore, the trust imposed a 30% tax on the income from the hundi and issued a notice to pay a total of Rs 183 crore.
After receiving the notice, the trust filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court and issued a stay on the dues to the IT Department till the ‘tax assessment’.
The Income Tax department has finally waived the tax levied on donations in hundi by recognizing ‘Shri Sai baba Sansthan’ as a religious and charitable trust.
In a release, the IT Department wrote, for this, `175 crore imposed on “Shri Sai baba Sansthan” for the last three years has been waived off.