The Bombay High Court has ruled that fashion designers are eligible for income tax exemptions meant for artists. A division bench of Justices Dhananjay Chandrachud and JP Devadhar has ruled that fashion designers are eligible for tax exemptions, much like musicians, authors, actors and sportspersons. The bench concurred with the findings of the income tax appellate tribunal which had earlier arrived at the same conclusion.

So fashion designers will now be able to claim tax exemption on 75% of their income from foreign sources. As a result, noted designer Tarun Tahiliani, who first raised the issue in 2000, for example, would be treated as an artist for income tax purposes. And the income tax department's plea that the exemption is really meant for fine arts and not applied arts stands nullified.

The high court's ruling, however, raises the question whether the idea behind the exemptions is to promote the arts or to reward all pursuits that involve any level of creative input. Do we really need to provide such incentives to fashion designers, especially of the stature of Tahiliani, who are engaged in a highly profitable commercial activity? Since many fashion designers depend on their pret-a-porter (ready-to-wear) lines to bring in volumes, shouldn't the exemptions be extended to all branded wear that goes through an essentially similar 'artistic' process?

Should fashion designers, then, get tax exemptions meant for artists?