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ShareBangalore: A division bench of the Karnataka High Court on Wednesday stayed the operation of the September 17, 2008 order of a single-bench, quashing a proviso of section 4 of the Karnataka Entertainment Tax Act 1958. The proviso allowed the state to levy a certain tax rate for the state's languages -- Kannada, Konkani, Kodava, Tulu and Banjara--and a different one for films in other languages screened in the state.
The order passed today means that while Kannada films will be taxed at Rs48 per show, other films will be taxed Rs118 per show. The state had filed an appeal, claiming that by virtue of the single-bench order, that they were forced to collect Rs.118 in show tax from films in Kannada and other languages spoken in the state. The 790 cinema theatres in the state collectively contribute Rs56 crore annually toward entertainment tax.
The single-judge bench had observed that as the petitioners were exhibitors of movies, they were free to choose a language. The state, however, filed an appeal stating that the local film industry is still nascent and ill-equipped to compete with films in other languages, thus deserving a concession.
