India’s biggest celeb taxpayer paid

Celebrities may not rival big businessmen in their earnings, but they are still among the highest-paid individuals in any country. In India, top film stars and sports icons earn enough to pay crores in taxes. The biggest tax-paying celebrity in the country paid ₹92 crore in taxes in the last year alone.
Fortune India released the list of the highest tax-paying celebrities in India in September this year. This list featured celebs who had paid high taxes for the 2023-24 financial year. Superstar Shah Rukh Khan topped the list, unsurprisingly, with ₹92 crore paid in taxes. This was expected given that Shah Rukh had a bumper 2023 with three blockbuster releases. But the distance with which he was ahead of the rest was startling. The next name after Shah Rukh was Tamil star Vijay, popularly known as Thalapathy among fans. The 50-year-old paid ₹80 crore tax in 2023-24. The two bigwigs were followed by Salman Khan ( ₹75 crore), Amitabh Bachchan ( ₹71 crore), and Virat Kohli ( ₹66 crore). The top-ranked female celeb in the list was Kareena Kapoor, just outside the top 10 with ₹20 crore tax paid. (Also read: Shah Rukh Khan beats Virat Kohli as India’s biggest tax-paying celebrity; paid ₹92 crore in 2024: Full list)
2023-24 was a blockbuster year for both the table toppers. Shah Rukh Khan made his Bollywood comeback in January 2023 with Pathaan, which grossed over ₹1000 crore worldwide. He did even better with his next release – Jawan – grossing ₹1150 crore. His last release of the year – Dunki – wasn’t as big a hit, but still managed to earn over ₹400 crore. The profit share and earnings made Shah Rukh the highest-paid actor in India after almost a decade. Similarly, Vijay had a big blockbuster release in 2023-24 – The Greatest of All Time, which earned over ₹600 crore. As per some reports, the actor was paid over ₹200 crore for the film.
Fortune India specified that the figures were calculated using the advance tax payments by these individuals for the 2023-24 financial year.