Govt Expands The Net By Plugging LoopholeNon-Compliance To Attract Stiff Penalties Professionals obtaining any sum of money under a non-compete agreement will now be subject to tax with the government having plugged a loophole in the Budget. Once non-compete agreements were largely restricted to the manufacturing arena.For instance, an outgoing employee would have to sign on the dotted line that he would not share knowhow or a patent that he had helped develop during his employment. Or if he was an inventor, he could be debarred under the non-compete agreement from starting a similar line of business for a certain period. The money received under such non-compete agreements was duly taxed. “There was no specific provisions to cover professionals who could argue that the sum of money received by hem under a non-compete agreement was not taxable,“ says Gautam Nayak, tax part ner, CNK & Associates. Now a wide gamut of pro essionals -such as those in he legal, medical, enginee ring or