Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar has become the highest taxpayer among sportspersons in the country for the last quarter of 2009 while film stars Akshay Kumar and Aamir Khan edged past others in Bollywood on individual tax payers category.

Sachin paid Rs 1.5 crore for the quarter till December and stood at 115th position ahead of Indian cricket team captain MS Dhoni among the 500 top tax payers of the country.

Dhoni and Sehwag had paid Rs 1 crore each for the same period and stood at 199 and 201 positions respectively in the latest list of top 500 tax payers with the Finance Ministry.

Akshay Kumar and Aamir Khan have occupied 25th and 26th positions respectively edging past all others in Bollywood, including Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan by dishing out Rs 4.5 crore each for the December period in the current financial year.

However, the Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan is missing from the top 500 list though his son and daughter-in-law have figured in it.

Businessman Mahesh Gordhandas Garodia is the top tax payer in the country dishing out Rs 20 crore.

Lawyer-politician Abhisek Singhvi figures in the list by paying Rs 1.5 crore for this period.

Other cricketers who have figured in the list are Saurav Ganguly (Rs 90 lakh) and Harbhjan Singh (Rs 70 lakh).

IPL mastermind Lalit Modi has occupied the 47th position with a deposit of Rs 3 crore.

While Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is ahead of all other Bollywood heroines at 193rd position giving Rs 1 crore tax, Abhishek Bachchan has paid more than his wife. He has deposited Rs 1.2 crore.

IT czar Nandan Nilekani who is now heading the ambitious Unique Identification Authority of India, figures at 11th position having paid Rs 9 crore.

Leading lawyers Harish Salve (Rs 2 crore) Soli Sorabjee (Rs 90 lakh) and Ram Jethmalani (Rs 55 lakh) are also in the list prepared by the Central Board of Direct Taxes.

Shreya Ghosal, the only playback singer to figure in the list, paid Rs 51 lakh.

While Hrithik and Shahrukh have paid Rs 2 crore each, Salman has paid Rs 1.5 crore for the December period in the current fiscal.

Kajol and Deepika have paid Rs 75 lakh each while Rani Mukherjee has deposited Rs 51 lakh.

Saif Ali Khan and Ranbir Kapoor have also found their place in the top tax payers list as both have paid Rs 1.2 crore each.

Government has earned Rs 741 crore for this quarter as against Rs 418 crore from the corresponding period in the last fiscal.