Harbhajan served notice for evading service tax

India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was on Wednesday served a notice by the Commissionerate of Central Excise and Customs here for evading service tax on his income from the second and third season of the Indian Premier League.

Harbhajan, who represents Mumbai Indians in the IPL, has been issued notices for his role in advertisements, rental incomes and his participation in the first and second seasons of the high-profile league, said Charanjit Singh, commissioner of CEC, Ludhiana.

Singh said that Rs 1.8 crore as taxable amount is recoverable from Harbhajan on account of his income from the IPL.

Details regarding his rental income (from Mumbai) and income from advertisement have been asked from his chartered accountant who appeared on Harbhajan's behalf before the assessing authority.

Similar notices have been served to Punjab XI players Karan Goyal and Gagandeep Singh (both from Ludhiana), Sarvjit Singh (Jalandhar) and T P Singh (Amritsar).

Singh said that the notices have been issued as IPL was primarily a business promotion venture and the department did not accept it as a sporting event.

Earlier, the Chandigarh Commissionerate had issued a similar notice to Yuvraj Singh, another Kings XI player, for recovery of Rs 1.15 crore, including interest and penalty, as service tax dues.