Finally, Actor Vijay breathes a huge relief as the years-long battle has come to an end!

Actor Vijay has finally put an end to the tax battle for his Rolls Royce car as he had paid the tax amount, directed by the court, months after the judgment. Vijay was battling the entry tax that was levied on his luxurious Rolls Royce car since 2012 and in July, the Madras High Court had come down hard on the actor for evading the tax and directed him to pay the tax, along with the fine amount of Rs 1 lakh. 

Vijay has bought a Rolls Royce car from the UK in 2012.  It is one of the most luxurious cars in the world and he imported the car that is nearly worth Rs 5 crore in 2012 and as per the Indian rules, an imported vehicle can be declared legitimate and can enter the country after paying the import tax and entry tax should also be paid in the respective state of the importer to register the vehicle. However, Vijay challenged the entry tax in the Madras High Court by quoting the verdict of the Kerala High Court which said that the entry tax can be exempted if the import tax is paid. 

Vijay has paid the import tax of over 1.50 crore and he had approached the Madras High Court in 2012 with a petition challenging the order to pay the entry tax. According to reports, the court has on July 17, 2012, ordered Vijay to pay 20% of the total entry tax in its interim judgment. As per the order, the actor had paid 20% of the tax on July 23, 2012, and registered his Rolls Royce. After paying the initial tax, he has been using the vehicle, and nearly after nine years, the single-judge bench of Justice SM Subramaniam had this July pronounced the final judgment in Vijay's petition in which he sought full relief from the entry tax.

In his plea, Vijay had argued that extraordinary entry tax has been imposed on his vehicle. The special bench headed by Justice has said that the petitioner (Vijay) has imported a prestigious car from England but he didn't pay entry tax as per the provision of the act. The high court has noted that the petitioner is a reputed actor and he has to pay the tax promptly. By dismissing his petition, the court has ordered Vijay to pay the rest of the entry tax and a Rs 1 lakh fine. Levying the fine, the court has highlighted that the actors who have a huge fan base are considered real heroes.

The special bench has come down hard on Vijay through its judgment and said, "People are under the impression that they are real heroes. Hence, they are not expected to be like reel heroes. The act of evading tax is considered an anti-national habit and unconstitutional. These actors are displaying themselves as the saviour of social justice on the screens but they are evading tax, which is not in consonance with the provisions of the statutes." The verdict had disappointed Vijay as the judge has spelt objectionable comments against him in a fashion of calling him 'anti-national'.

Vijay has then decided to challenge the verdict in the High Court and moved his petition of appeal to seek a directive of removing objectionable comments against him and to repeal the fine of Rs 1 lakh. His petition was heard by the bench consisted of Justices Duraiswamy and Hemalatha and during the hearing, the counsel of Vijay had argued that the order from the single-judge bench has contained adverse remarks which created negative publicity for the actor. Vijay has expressed that he is ready to pay the entry tax and sought a directive to repeal the penalty of Rs 1 lakh. 

After hearing his petition, the Madras High Court bench has on July 27 stayed the order of paying a fine of Rs 1 lakh. However, the judges had directed Vijay to pay the entry tax for his Rolls Royce car and ordered the Income Tax department to carry out the proceedings. On Thursday, nearly two months after the high court's directive asking Vijay to pay the tax, the Tamil Nadu government has informed the court that Vijay has paid the entire tax amount. By observing that, the court had adjourned the case without mentioning the date. As Vijay has paid the entire tax amount, he has brought his legal battle to an end finally. 

 

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