The South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce (SIFCC) is seeking a resolution from the Union finance ministry quoting the adverse effects of GST on the film industry. The film chamber had been in talks with several tax consultants on the issue and will be presenting the same before the Union finance ministry in the coming days.
C Kalyan, president of SIFCC, AP Film Chamber of Commerce and vice-president of Film Federation of India says, “As it is, the film industry is not doing well, and the GST will deal a deadly blow to it. We want to avert a crisis in the industry.”
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Notedly, the locally produced films of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka don’t have entertainment tax imposed and now will have to impose the tax under the GST law. However, Kerala takes away entertainment tax of 25 per cent per movie ticket.
Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have imposed an entertainment tax of seven percent for small films and 14 percent tax on big films. The film industry fears that if the GST council imposes 22 percent tax then the industry would be paying off more money.
Kalyan says, “There is hardly any money flowing into film industry now. Some new producers are coming up with projects, which is actually keeping the film industry alive. Due to high taxation, even these people might shy away fearing losses.”
The SIFCC is looking forward to seek GST tax exemption from the Centre. If the finance ministry disagrees then the film industry will put forward the opinion of collecting the tax money from the audience. The audience will have to pay ticket price including GST.
It has been reported that non-local films will get the benefit as the GST rate will be lesser than the current entertainment tax slab. Also, the entertainment tax will be removed after the implementation of GST in the country.
