Salman Khan becomes Highest 2016-17 Tax payer in Bollywood

Salman Khan has come out the top of the list of tax payers in Bollywood. The list marks him as the highest 2016-17 tax payer in all of Bollywood. He’s beaten other stars such as Akshay Kumar and Hrithik Roshan.

For the 2016-17 financial year, Khan reported a tax return of Rs 44 crore (£5.4 million*). This is a huge increase from the previous year’s Rs 32 crore (£3.9 million) earnings.

These figures come from the Income Tax Department of India.

Khan managed to beat Akshay Kumar who came second in the tax payer list. Kumar charted advance tax of Rs 29 crore (£3.5 million) for this year. The third highest tax payer was Hrithik Roshan. The list reported him of paying tax worth Rs 25.5 crore (£3.1 million).

These massive figures suggest that Bollywood is doing pretty well.

This is especially true for Kapil Sharma. Sharma saw a dramatic increase in his taxpayer status. This year he posted an advanced tax of Rs 23 crore (£2.8 million). This is a vast increase from last year where Sharma’s tax stood at Rs 7 crore (£850,000).

Among the lower end of tax payers were two surprising additions. Ranbir Kapoor who paid Rs 22.3 crore (£2.7 million) in tax last year, saw his tax drop. For this year, he paid Rs 16 crore (£1.9 million).

Aamir Khan was another star who posted surprisingly low figures. The success of his movie Dangal which made Rs 140 crore (£17 million) belies his tax payer status. Khan posted advance tax of Rs 14 crore (£1.7 million).

It should be noted that figures for stars Shahrukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Amitabh Bachchan were not made public because of their involvement in the Panama Papers scandal.

India Today noted several actors did not have tax payer status released. Amongst Bollywood actresses only three had their status released.

Deepika Padukone’s tax payer status was confirmed. She posted advance tax of Rs 10 crore (£1.2 million). This figure made her the highest female tax payer amongst Bollywood actresses. The second was Alia Bhatt. She had an overall tax amount of Rs 4.3 crore (£530,000).

The third highest tax payer was Kareena Kapoor. She posted a total tax amount of Rs 3.9 crore (£480,000).

These figures are eye-watering amounts. They show just how well Bollywood is doing, especially Salman Khan. Definitely the Sultan of Bollywood!