Mukesh Bhatt said, “They need to comprehend we are a creative industry, we are unique in relation to gambling and tobacco ventures”
A week ago, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that the GST (Goods and Services Tax) will incorporate present entertainment tax/service tax, to be supplanted with a solitary 28% tax. Some of the producers like Mukesh Bhatt, who was not happy with the Government’s declaration stated, “28% GST is too high, it ought to be promptly brought down to 18%.”
Tax Difference
In 2013, Maharashtra government had forced an extra 10% entertainment duty on movie tickets valued at Rs. 251 and Rs. 350. In any case, entertainment tax differs from state to state – Delhi pays 20%, Bihar 50%, Gujarat 20% (nil for Gujarati movies), Haryana 30%, Karnataka 30%, Madhya Pradesh 20%, Maharashtra 45% (nil for Marathi movies), Andhra Pradesh 20% (15% for Telugu movies) and Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Punjab, and Uttarakhand pay nil.
Siddharth Roy Kapur, President of The Film and Television Producers Guild of India, stated, “The industry had proposed a rate of 5% in our portrayals to the Government, to resuscitate a business, which has been battling from the absence of crisp investments in new cinema screens and a critical increment in online piracy. The normal entertainment tax gathered nationally by the government over all states and languages was in the range of 8-10% of gross box office income. Thus coherently the GST rate ought not to have been over 12%, with a specific end goal to maintain a strategic distance from any exchequer misfortune. Rather, the Government has linked the film sector with the gambling and betting businesses and taxed it at the highest slab of 28%”
Both Mukesh Bhatt and Mr. Kapur feel that the government is linking the entertainment industry with the gambling industry. Mukesh Bhatt included, “They need to comprehend we are a creative industry, we are unique in relation to gambling and tobacco ventures. Why are we treated like the Paan and Gutka industry? Is it accurate to say that we are injurious to health?”
Both likewise talked about the lack of support and enthusiasm from the Government of India, “Shockingly, with such a lack of support from the Government, the Indian film industry which ought to be one of the essential types of cultural effort from India to reach out to the world, winds up in genuine threat of coming undone.” Mr. Bhatt included, “We have been asking for that we need to meet the high command of the party however that has not happened yet. The day is not far when just Hollywood films will release in India consistently, Hindi film producers won’t have the capacity to make movies in light of current circumstances.”
Well! I am not sure of what consequences will be there for the producers in order to make movies in this scenario, but I am sure no matter what I am just gonna watch some good old movies and relax on my Centuary mattresses meanwhile!