For a few years now, Akshay Kumar has been on a professional high, delivering back-to-back hits like Housefull 2, Rowdy Rathore, OMG (all 2012) and Special 26 (2013). And now, he has achieved another feat by becoming Bollywood's highest advance income tax payer for the sixth consecutive year.

"No one will talk about these things openly, but the advance income tax payer list has thrown up a few surprises this year. For the past couple of years, Salman's films have been blockbusters at the box office, but Akshay remains way ahead of the pack in terms of his tax payment," says a trade insider, wishing not to be named.

Going by the figures, Akshay has apparently paid R18 crore, outnumbering the top three Khans - Salman, Shah Rukh and Aamir. Last year, Akshay had paid R20 crore. This year, Salman is in the second spot; he has paid R11 crore as advance income tax. Shah Rukh Khan comes third, as he has shelled out R10.5 crore as tax. Aamir, meanwhile, is believed to have paid R8 crore. While Akshay remained unavailable for comment, industry experts say this shows how Akki emerges as Bollywood's Mr Clean. "Akshay is known to be humble in his own way.

He's a great role model this way. Bollywood stars had a bad reputation with taxes earlier; but they have become smarter now," says film maker-adguru Prahlad Kakkar. Meanwhile, among female actors, it's Katrina Kaif who has apparently paid the highest income tax at R4.5 crore, beating her rival Kareena Kapoor by a narrow margin. Priyanka Chopra trailed behind with R2 crore.