Taslim, a Youtuber from Uttar Pradesh who owns the “Trading Hub 3.0” channel, has been the target of a tax investigation by the income tax authorities. His Bareilly home was searched during the operation, and 24 lakh rupees in cash were discovered. Besides the cash, other valuables including gold jewelry were also discovered. In the past year that Taslim has been operating his channel, he has made close to 1 crore. He is being investigated, according to a report on NDTV.
The assertions that Taslim obtained these funds illegally have been refuted by his family, notwithstanding the allegations made in the study. With roughly 101K followers as of this writing, Taslim’s trading-related channel Trading Hub 3.0, which he launched in September 2018, produces content for the share market. He also manages Logic_Trading, a channel with almost 41.6K subscribers, in addition to Tading Hub.
The story claims that Taslim’s family and brother Feroze think he has been unfairly implicated in this. On top of their total revenue of 1.2 crore, Feroze also mentioned that they had paid 4 lakh in taxes. We don’t do any improper work, according to Feroze. It is true that we manage our YouTube channel, which provides a good source of money. According to him, the raid was a carefully thought out scheme. Earlier on June 29, official sources informed PTI that the income-tax department had opened an investigation into a number of social media celebrities and content producers on websites like YouTube and Instagram for allegedly failing to disclose their income and profits in a manner that was proportionate with their revenues.
Because of their expertise, position, or rapport with their audience, social media influencers and online content producers have the ability to speak to and influence their audiences’ online decisions to buy or form views about a service, brand, or experience.
The sources claimed that the department’s “data analytics” investigation revealed that these social media influencers and online content producers are earning “substantial” incomes but are either not disclosing or underreporting it in their income tax returns (ITRs) or filings, largely as a result of their ignorance of tax laws. The sources claim that the tax department has gathered “vital information” about these online influencers and content producers, including the brand endorsements they have undertaken, the paid and unpaid promotions they have carried out, the expenses they have incurred using various financial instruments like debit and credit cards, and their agreements with social media platforms like YouTube and Instagram, where they are paid based on specific criteria like gathering social media engagements above a certain threshold.
According to the sources, the government also used the tax deducted at source (TDS) database before examining these people and sending notices to a few others. Regarding perks obtained in a business or profession, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the administrative arm of the I-T department, introduced new TDS requirements last year, stating that such perquisites might either be in cash or in kind, or partially in both of these forms. The I-T Act now contains a new provision, 194R, that was included as part of the Budget 2022–23. This section mandates that anyone who gives a resident any benefit or perk that exceeds 20,000 in a year that is related to their business or profession must deduct tax at source at a rate of 10% from such benefit or perk.
