The Madras High Court issued an interim order on Tuesday staying an Income Tax (I-T) department order that imposed a penalty of Rs. 1.5 crore on Tamil actor Vijay for his admitted undisclosed income of Rs 15 crore in the financial year 2015-16. The 1.5 crore fine was levied against the actor after his premises were inspected in September 2015. The I-T order cited that Vijay had accepted that he had received Rs. 15 crore as cheque payments and Rs. 5 crore in cash as his earnings for acting in the Tamil film Puli. He had also reportedly acknowledged receiving Rs. 10 crore in cash additionally in the same financial year, which he did not divulge in his income tax return that he had filed with the department. The I-T department stated that the actor agreed to make the payment of the tax amount for Rs 15 crore of undisclosed income. 

Subsequently, the I-T department passed an order imposing a 10% penalty as a fine on the undisclosed income based on Vijay's admission pointing out that the wrongdoing had emerged only after the searches were conducted and were not voluntary submission. On a later date, the aggrieved actor moved a plea in the Madras HC claiming that the penalty order was invalid as it had been issued after the limitation period to enforce such steps had expired. Vijay's plea for the order was accepted by Justice Anita Sumanth from June 30 and the department has been asked by the court to submit a reply by September 16. 

On the work front, Vijay is at present shooting for his Varisu at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh under Vamshi Paidipally's direction and is being produced by Dil Raju's Sri Venkateswara Creations banner. Scheduled for a grand worldwide Pongal 2023 theatrical release, the upcoming film will see the superstar sharing screen space with national sensation Rashmika Mandanna for the first time and will also feature music by chart-buster composer Thaman. S. 'Thalapathy', as he is fondly called by his fans everywhere, Vijay is also expected to kick off shooting for his next after Varisu, being called Thalapathy 67, towards the end of the year and the film will see him reuniting once again with director Lokesh Kanagaraj after their 2021 box office blockbuster Master.