Tamil Nadu Cinema Owners Call Off Strike
The indefinite strike by the cinema owners has been finally called off after three days in protest due to double taxation that was being levied on the state of Tamil Nadu. The state government has finally agreed to set up a committee to study the issue under consideration.
All the movie shows will resume today.
Tamil Nadu Cinemas were losing a business of approximately Rs 20 crore a day due to the indefinite strike.
The 30 per cent entertainment tax over and above the GST rate of 28 per cent had forced more than 1000 cinemas in the state to close screenings since 3rd July.
The Tamil Film Industry is India’s second biggest after the Mumbai Film Industry. Regarding the situation in Tamil Nadu, superstar Rajinikanth had tweeted, “Keeping in mind the livelihood of Lakhs of people in the Tamil film industry, I sincerely request the TN GOVT to seriously consider our plea.” To which actor Kamal Haasan tweeted, “Thanks, Rajni avaragaLay for voicing your concern. Let's request first as gentlemen should. Then we shall see.”
The additional municipal tax of 30 per cent along with the GST rate of 28% will discourage audiences to watch movies in the theatres and thus encourage piracy.
GST rate of 18 per cent is applicable on tickets that are priced below Rs 100 and 28 per cent tax will be charged on above Rs 100.
GST or the Goods and Services Tax is a comprehensive tax, that integrates state and national taxes into a uniform tax regime. However, in order to get the states to accept GST, it was negotiated that some states could levy additional local taxes. Thus the state of Tamil Nadu has the authority to charge an additional tax on cinemas along with the Goods and Services Tax.
