Tickets to sports events attract up to 28% tax

BENGALURU: Your next outing to a sports stadium to watch a game will burn a bigger hole in your pocket as tickets will attract up to 28% tax under the

GST regime

from July 1.

Club culture

in sports - like the Indian Premier League which is a mix of entertainment and huge prize money - will attract the highest tax slab of 28%. All other events organized by recognized sports bodies like the Indian cricket board or the hockey federation will attract 18% on tickets.

Tickets priced below Rs 250 are exempt from GST. In any stadium, only a limited number of seats are reserved in this price band.

All sports events organized by recognized sports federations were to attract 28% GST, but a meeting held on Thursday decided to peg it down to 18% for "recognized sporting meets". If it wasn't for the last-minute revision by the

GST Council

, then Tests, one-dayers and T20Is conducted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India and events by other recognized sports bodies would have been taxed at 28%.

Vinay Mruthyunjaya

, a chartered accountant, told TOI: "It's interesting that tickets priced over Rs 250 attract tax from July 1. This is a significant departure from the current practice of slapping service and entertainment taxes only on

IPL-like tournaments

, which involve proprietory teams and are organized on a commercial basis. Until now, admission to recognized sporting events was fully exempt from such levies."