ISLAMABAD: The US Embassy in Islamabad has allegedly refused to issue a visa to singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan to attend a concert due to non-payment of taxes on income earned in the US between 2015 and 2023.
According to the embassy, in order to get a visa, the singer has to provide IRS documentation regarding tax payments from 2015 to 2023 and legal documents from Bollywood Event LLC. However, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan claims that he had paid all the taxes through his promoters in the US.
Rahat said he has contacted his promoters and asked them to provide the required documents regarding the payment of taxes after which these documents will be submitted to the US embassy.
The ‘O Re Piya’ singer said he had visited the US earlier this year also, and if he had not paid the taxes for the said period, the embassy would not have issued the visa in the first place.
Rahat Fateh Ali Khan was supposed to go to America on November 18 to participate in a musical show organized by the Association of Pakistani Physicians of North America.
The concert was booked by Rahat’s promoter Rehan Siddiqui, who had himself applied for the singer’s visa and provided the necessary documents to the embassy. But the embassy rejected the visa application over an issue with tax on the singer’s US income during 2015-23.
The documents show that Rahat Fateh Ali Khan traveled to the US in the past through four different promoters, who sponsored him from 2015-23. The singer claims that he received the income from these concerts after tax deduction, so it was the responsibility of the promoters to pay tax on this income in the US.
The singer’s handlers in the US are of the opinion that someone tipped off the US embassy about Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s tax affairs, and the person could be someone close to him.
Rehan Siddiqui, the new promoter of Rahat Fateh Ali Khan in America, said this was his first show with Rahat Fateh Ali as a promoter. Even though the visa was not issued, it was their responsibility to pay the singer’s taxes on this visit.
