Theatre-owners to meet Narendra Modi for tax relief

RANCHI: The Jharkhand Cinema Exhibitors Association (JCEA) along with their counterpart in Bihar on Monday decided to meet Prime Minister Modi to plead for an exemption from the Goods and Service Act (GST), which was rolled out on July 1.
According to association, there has been a massive dip in the movie business ever since the new tax system was introduced last week. "We are preparing a formal letter to seek an appointment with the PM on the issue.The draft letter will be placed to seek consent during the next JCEA meeting and will be sent to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) accordingly," JCEA secretary Prashant Kumar Singh said.
He added. "We have made several attempts to meet Chief minister Raghubar Das through letters and phone calls, to request for leniency in the entertainment tax, but in vain."The new tax system has fixed a uniform rate of 18% on cinema tickets priced upto Rs 100 and 28% on tickets above Rs 100. "Such a sharp increase in places like Ranchi, Dhanbad and Jamshedpur had made watching movies expensive for the public," Singh said.