Chennai: Tamil Nadu Government on Thursday launched first round of talks with cinema theatre owners and film producers on their demand for doing away with local entertainment tax for tickets since they are being covered by GST.
The panel headed by Local Administration Minister S P Velumani will meet again on July 24 to iron out differences between the government and the theatre owners. Tamil Nadu Film Chamber of Commerce President Abirami Ramanathan and Producers' Council chief Vishal participated in the meeting and briefed the ministers and senior officials about the problems being faced by the industry.
Sources said no breakthrough was achieved since both sides stood to their ground. The theatre owners want the "double taxation" of GST and local tax to end.
The theatre owners are protesting against levy of 30 per cent municipal tax along with 18 per cent GST for tickets below Rs 100 and 28 per cent GST for tickets above Rs 100. They want the "double taxation" to end since paying tax to both the government and the municipal body would not be possible due to higher rates of tax.
While a ticket of Rs 100 would cost Rs 118 in Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the same would be Rs 148 in Tamil Nadu. The state government also stepped in to solve the crisis with Finance Minister D Jayakumar saying that a "amicable solution" would be found soon.
The Tamil Nadu Government had last week temporarily suspended collection of municipal tax till the committee resolves the issue. After the meeting, Mr Ramanathan said they were hoping for "good news" from the Tamil Nadu Government next week.
