Party hard, but after paying tax, Shirke tells organisers

With Christmas and New Year around the corner, the entertainment duty (ED) office of the Pune district collectorate is gearing up to act against organisers that evade entertainment tax.

With the trend of organising parties in the fringe areas and mostly around 50 to 100 km away from chaotic places in the city increasing, the ED office has formed 14 teams to keep a close watch on such functions.

Speaking to DNA, ED officer, Geetanjali Shirke said that any entertainment programme organiser must pay the entertainment duty before the event to avoid flying squads taking punitive action.

For the programmes organised within the city limits, the duty is 20% of the total tickets made available for selling or 20% of the total cost of organising the event, Shirke said.

Similarly, 10% entertainment duty is charged on the total cost of programmes organised in rural areas.

“This time we are focusing on some areas in the interior parts of Maval and Mulshi, along with other prominent pockets in the districts, as many such events are organised in these parts on farmlands or orchards normally a couple of kms away from motorable roads,” she said.

The office has already started correspondence with the 13 tehsils that fall under its jurisdiction to keep a tab on errant entertainment programme organisers. It will also hold a meeting with the Pune rural police on December 22 and seek their assistance in catching tax evaders.

Shirke appealed to all such event organisers to pay tax before the programme as obtaining the city police or the rural police’s permission is not enough to conduct a party or any entertainment event.