Kannada Sahitya Parishat sent a letter to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in which they pointed out that the Kannada publishing industry is going through a tough time and less than 1000 copies being printed of even some of the most popular books. They also requested for GST exemption on royalties given to the authors.
Manu Baligar President of Sahitya Parishat stated in the letter that, the advent of digitization has already adversely affected the publishing industry. The imposition of GST on royalties given to authors has come as a huge blow to the Kannada book publishing industry. Earlier, publishers had to send one bill to the distributor. As a result of GST, they have to send hundreds of bills based on GST number allotted to each destination. He also pointed out the taxation system in imposing a load of huge paperwork for publishers.
In the same matter, the Karnataka Book Publishers Association also requested the government to withdraw the Good and Service Tax (GST) on royalty. Prakash Kambathalli, president of the Book Publishers, Association also said that, the current circumstances had forced them to seek this exemptions.
He further explained that We are paying 12% Goods and Services Tax (GST) on royalty given to authors, ever since this new GST system was introduced 
View the full comparison report between old and new GST return filing system in a systematic manner. The new system will be applicable from July 2019. “In the pre-GST times, publishers used to pay tax only for printing. This new system has led to not only an increase in paperwork but has also posed a burden on both authors and publishers. Citing GST as a reason, some publishers tend to cut the amount from the royalty they owe to the authors. It has made the whole system complicated.
Prakash Kambathalli further stated that Considering that publication in all regional languages is going through the same situation, the association has demanded the removal of GST on royalties for publication in all regional languages.
