Hrithik is tax payer No 1, after all

MUMBAI: Bollywood star Hrithik Roshan has emerged as the top advance income tax payer in 2006-07 while Bachchans have done it as a family.

Hrithik paid a little over Rs 15 crore, Amitabh Bachchan paid close to Rs 14.25 crore while superstar Shah Rukh Khan paid around Rs 14 crore, Income Tax Department sources said on Monday.

Mumbai film fraternity pays around Rs 400 crore in taxes altogether which includes technicians as well as those attached to other departments engaged in film production, an Income Tax source added.

With Aishwarya joining the Bachchan clan following her marriage with Abhishek, the family has become the top tax payer in Bollywood. The Bachchan family paid around Rs 25 crore in taxes in the year ended March 31, the sources said.

Bachchan's son Abhishek paid around Rs 4.75 crore, Aishwarya around Rs 5 crore while the company AB Corp shelled out about Rs 1.44 crore, they said.

Mumbai region, which topped income tax collection in the country, recorded more than 40 per cent growth in 2006-07.

The total income tax collection in Mumbai region last year was Rs 74,000 crore as compared to Rs 53,000 crore in 2005-06.