Director of 'Shootout at Wadala' and Zinda fame has been accused of defaulting on tax payments

Sanjay Gupta, Bollywood writer and director, best known for his recent 'Shootout at Wadala', has been booked by the service tax department for evading tax on the film that he has made crores off. R Shekhar, the service tax commissioner, on October 28 sent a team to Gupta's residence and office.

During the search operation, officials found that Gupta, the owner of White Feather Films, earned crore of rupees from his recently released film Shootout at Wadala. He is liable to pay Rs 20 lakh service tax on this film. Additionally, he has also not paid 12.36 per cent tax since July 2012, as required by the law.

Officials said that they would be able to comment on his total tax dues after scrutinising the documents. Sameer Wankhede, deputy commissioner, anti-evasion, service tax department, confirmed the action taken against Gupta but refused to reveal the details. `We have booked Gupta for tax evasion,` is all he said. Gupta has promised he would pay the tax in installments soon, officials said.