New Delhi: Over the last five years, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has made sizable income tax payments totaling Rs 4,298 crore. Contrary to popular belief, the BCCI has consistently paid its income taxes despite being widely believed to have 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 additional Rs 1,159.20 crore in the most recent fiscal year.

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The information was revealed in response to a concern raised by participant Anil Desai. The member asked the following questions:

"(a) Whether the Government is aware that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) ranks as the second richest sports body globally, and if so, could the income and expenditure of the BCCI over the past five years be provided?

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.

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