A Happy (taxman-free) New Year to You

Big spenders will have to keep an eye out for the income tax officials this New Years Eve

Partiers on New Year’s Eve should beware: the tax man will be watching them. While they boogie away the night, sleuths of the Income Tax Department and their informers will be on the lookout for big spenders.

While the practice is not new, the screening will be more careful, the officials more watchful. The reason for this is the heightened use of black money and surge in counterfeit notes in circulation. Sources in the IT Department say that it is the nouveau riche that they’ll be keeping a special watch on. “We always keep tabs on the rich as and when required. But there are a lot of people who suddenly get rich and are big spenders,” says the IT Department official.

It is the big private parties that the sleuths are interested in. Whether it is boat parties or those in restaurants, their informers have fanned out and will help keep tabs on the heavily loaded. In other words, don’t be too generous with your money, for you could be at the receiving end of  unwelcome attention from the taxman.

According to the source, though Bollywood stars are paid a bomb to dance at New Year Eve parties, neither the stars nor the hotels really reveal the true amount. For instance, when news was leaked to the media that Mallika Sherawat was being paid a couple of crore to shake her booty for an hour at one such party, both the hotel and star denied it. Bipasha Basu has done the same. Taxmen say it is all for tax reasons.