A big, fat wedding in Karnataka? Pay luxury tax!

The Karnataka government is mulling over passing a private bill that would affect all grand and lavish weddings in Karnataka. On Thursday, a private bill was moved by former Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar in the Legislative Assembly, to stop the excessive display of wealth at weddings, says a report in Deccan Chronicle.

It has been termed the ‘Karnataka State Wedding Karnataka Marriages (Registration and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2015’ and if it comes into effect, all ostentatious weddings in the state will have to pay a luxury tax. Weddings that exceed a budget of Rs 5 lakh or have more than 1000 guests will fall under the category of a lavish wedding and will be taxed. The bill will come up in the Legislative Assembly in the state next week for discussion. 

The report quoted law minister TB Jayachandra as stating, “Not only do they spend lavishly but they also waste a large quantity of food. It has influenced people in rural areas so much, that they sell property to afford such unnecessary expenditure.” The Law Minister had wanted to bring in a similar bill a year ago, but due to opposition from his party, he dropped it. When he had made the proposal in 2014, it stated that those who spent upto Rs 7,000 on an invitation card would have pay luxury tax. At that point, the government had stated that the luxury tax collected would be spent on marriages of young women from poor families, adds the report.