After a protracted legal battle,the recent Bombay High Court ruling in favour of Delhi-based fashion designer Tarun Tahiliani declaring that a fashion designer is an artist,has come as a great relief to the designer community. Its a very positive judgment and I feel extremely gratified that we have been given the status of an artist. I had been fighting for a decade now for this and I feel vindicated today, says Tahiliani. On October 31,2000 Tahiliani had filed his IT returns and sought tax exemption under the section 80RR on his declared taxable income of Rs 83.90 lakh. I had claimed deductions under the section and contended that my taxable income would be Rs 53.24 lakh, says Tahiliani. But an appeal was filed by the Income Tax (I-T) department challenging the tax exemption granted to him on his foreign income. A division bench of Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice J P Devadhar on Monday said that they had concurred with the findings of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) granting an artists privilege to Tahiliani. Incidentally,the section 80RR refers to Indian authors,playwrights,artists,musicians,sportsmen and actors who receive income from foreign parties for their work,and exempts 75 per cent of their total income obtained from foreign patrons from tax. Kolkata-based fashion designer Anamika Khanna says,Its a positive approach from the governments side. As a fashion designer we not only modernise traditions but also provide employment to a lot of people. Delhi-based designer Vineet Bahl agrees. Its a great move for fashion designers. The government has finally given due credit to them. As designers,we popularise the native crafts of our country in India as well as overseas, he said.
