Over the last five years, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has made large income tax payments totaling Rs 4,298 crore. Contrary to popular opinion, the BCCI has continually paid its income taxes despite being popularly believed to enjoy a tax exemption. Pankaj Chaudhary, the Union’s State Minister for Finance, made this revelation on Tuesday, August 8 during a speech he delivered in the Rajya Sabha.
The BCCI has paid a total of Rs 4,298.12 crore in income tax over the past five years alone. These tax payments were made in the following installments: Rs 844.92 crore in 2020–21, Rs 882.29 crore in 2019–20, Rs 815.08 crore in 2018–19, Rs 596.63 crore in 2017–18, and an extra Rs 1,159.20 crore in the most recent fiscal year.
The information was revealed in response to a concern raised by participant Anil Desai. The member asked the following questions:
“(a) Does the Government know that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the second-richest sports organization in the world? If so, could you provide the BCCI’s income and outlays for the past five years?”
(b) Could you clarify the specifics of any income tax payments the BCCI made over the past five years if there were any?
(c) If not, could you please describe the circumstances?
The Minister responded by saying that the government doesn’t keep data on international sports organizations. However, he presented the Income and Expenditure information from the income tax returns submitted over the previous five years, which revealed that the BCCI had a surplus of Rs. 4542 crore in the fiscal year 2021–2022, in addition to nearly INR 1650 crore and INR 2700 crore in the respective fiscal years 2020–21 and 2019–2020. The Indian Cricket Board had already paid the aforementioned taxes for the same.
