The tax man wants a larger share of BCCI's bouyant revenues, now pegged at Rs 1,000 crore, driven by ad and IPL earnings. BCCI has filed for a total tax deduction at source (TDS) of Rs 65 crore on payouts amounting to Rs 670 crore for the year 2007-08, but the Income Tax department is now looking to skim off some more.

Sources said the TDS amount of Rs 65 crore received has seen the I-T authorities asking questions about the uneven manner in which the liability for players, umpires, managers and other employees was assessed. The I-T department points out that the Board and its franchisees had, in some cases, deducted tax @ 2% with regard to some players. This was because some employees were seen to be on contract.

Now, in a fresh notification issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes, it has clarified that all sportspersons, Indian or foreign, besides coaches, trainers, umpires, referees, team physicians, physiotherapists, event managers, commentators, anchors and columnists, must be levied TDS at 10%.

All persons associated with the sport through BCCI have been clubbed as professionals, just like those rendering technical services, under Section 194J of the I-T Act liable to pay TDS @ 10%.

Sources said while no discrepancies had been noticed in TDS on payments made to foreign players, in case of some Indian players the tax deducted was @ 2%, which is the practice in normal contract payments under Section 194C of I-T Act, not applicable to professionals. In 2007-08, BCCI is believed to have had an income of Rs 1,000.41 crore that included media rights of over Rs 550 crore, surplus from tours, interest on bank deposits of over Rs 1,100 crore and income from other sources. In 2006-07, it had an income of not more than Rs 652 crore.

According to reports, the Board's wage bill for players, both domestic and foreign, would be around Rs 132 crore, a significant jump from the previous year when it was only Rs 86 crore.