Following a long and a relentless battle by the Kollywood’s hero, producer and distributor Udhayanudhu Stalin against the discrimination by the state appointed tax committee while granting the entertainment tax exemption, the Supreme Court has issued a new set of regulations to be followed by the tax committees.
The Supreme Court’s new protocol says that once the producers submit their application for tax exemption, they should be informed (in first come first serve basis) of their film’s screening within three days. The apex court further said that the committees must send their recommendations to the state governments within a week. The state governments must then take the final decision regarding issuance of tax free certificate within two weeks.
While most Tamil films these days are being awarded tax exemption on a few basic rules like having a Tamil title and getting the U certification from the censor board etc, the situation is quite different in Telugu with very few films being given tax exemption. Most children films and films with a good message like Naa Bangaru Thalli enjoy tax exemption.
In Bollywood too, certain state governments exempt producers from paying the entertainment tax for socially relevant films like the UP government’s orders to except Drishyam producers from paying entertainment tax.