TOI

NEW DELHI: Mayawati is the top taxpayer among politicians and, in fact, ranks among the 20 top taxpayers in the country. In 2007-08, the Dalit czarina shelled out Rs 26.26 crore as income tax, according to the I-T department's compilation of the top 200 taxpayers' list.And King Khan is the top taxpayer among actors. Placed at No. 13, five slots higher than Mayawati, Shah Rukh paid Rs 34.2 crore as income tax in 2007-08. The next actor who is cited among taxpaying notables is Akshay Kumar, who ranks at No. 40 in the list, and paid Rs 13.5 crore as tax.Sachin Tendulkar is the only cricketer to figure in the top-200 list. He coughed up Rs 8.8cr as tax, reinforcing the belief that he earns way more than other cricketers as the country's top sporting brand. Placed 81 in the top-200, Sachin is just ahead of industrialist Kumarmangalam Birla who paid just Rs 48,271 less than the master blaster.Talking of industrialists, conspicuous by their absence in the top-200 list are the Ambani brothers, Mukesh and Anil. Their mother, Kokilaben, barely makes it to the list at 195, having paid Rs 4.46 crore as tax. The top taxpayer among industrialists is Max's Analjit Singh who is No. 15 in the list having paid Rs 31.49 crore as tax.Otherwise, the top taxpayers of the country are not public figures, but obviously guys rolling in the stuff. The country's top taxpayer is from Delhi who forked out Rs 121 crore as income tax. In the top-10, five are from Mumbai and two from Delhi.Income-tax officials requestednot to make public their identities as top taxpayers, who are not protected by the celebrity status, often attract the attention of extortionists.Coming back to Mayawati, her income, year-after-year, ostensibly comes from "gifts" from her admirers. Having paid a tax of Rs 26 crore, her personal income this year is estimated in the region of Rs 75-80 crore. It may be recalled that Mayawati faces a CBI case for holding assets disproportionate to her known income.The other interesting names featuring in this year's list of top-200 taxpayers are, cardio-surgeon Naresh Trehan (Rs 8.4 crore), actor Salman Khan (Rs 7 crore), stamp-paper scamster Abdul Telgi (Rs 6.5 crore), Sanjay Dutt (Rs 5.8 crore), Aishwarya Rai (Rs 5.6 crore), Abhishek Bachchan (who paid just Rs 75,192 less than his wife), industrialist Nandan Nilekani (Rs 5.16 crore), music director-singer Himesh Reshammiya (Rs 4.89 crore), top lawyer Mukul Rohtagi (rs 4.85 crore), actor Aamir Khan (Rs 4.72 crore) and Wipro boss Azim Premji (Rs 4.68 crore).