THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The government would ‘favourably consider’ the request of the film industry to roll back entertainment tax on movie tickets, Finance Minister Thomas Isaac said after a meeting with representatives from the industry which Culture Minister A K Balan had convened. While Isaac wondered about the film industry stakeholders’ silence when the decision to hike the tax was taken, the distributors informed the government about their decision to withdraw from boycotting government-run KSFDC’s theatres.
The government had decided to reintroduce entertainment tax on movie tickets after GST was reduced from 28% to 18% from January 1 this year. Earlier, the local entertainment tax had been scrapped as the GST rate was high. All Kerala Film Producers’ Association president Rejaputhra Renjith said the issues facing the industry will be discussed in further meetings with the government. Balan said the government will enact a comprehensive legislation to resolve the issues facing the film industry.
No one can be banned in industry Talking about unhealthy practices in the film industry, the minister said such incidents should be curbed. He also said no one had the right to ban any person in the industry, referring to the producers’ association deciding to impose a ban on actor Shane Nigam.