The Goods and Services Tax will be implemented within a few hours from now that is from the midnight of July 1, 2017. Films come under the category of 28% tax slab and after various representation the GST council fixed 18% tax rate for movie tickets upto Rs.100 and 28% for movie tickets above Rs.100.

Confusion was prevailing as the Tamil Nadu Government had authorised the local bodies to levy Entertainment tax apart from the GST on Tamil films. The industry people wanted the Government to withdraw the Entertainment Tax and have GST only. Waiting for the TN Government's decision in this regard, the theatres across Tamil Nadu had stopped the advance bookings for film tickets from tomorrow.

But now the Government has give a rude shock to the Kollywood film industry which is already reeling under various problems such as piracy. The TN Govt has decided to retain the erstwhile Entertainment tax of 30% that is being levied on Tamil films by the State Government apart from GST. In addition to that there will be another 6% tax that will have to be borne by producers, distributors and theatre owners. This means they will have to pay 64% tax for a movie ticket costing Rs.120 and 54% tax for movie tickets priced upto Rs.100/-. Due to this the existing ticket price will have a huge increase which in turn will definitely lead to a big downfall in the number of people coming to theatres to watch film.

The film industry has decided to protest against this decision by announcing a strike. Abirami Ramanathan of Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners Association and a member of Film Chamber has announced that movie screenings in theatres across the state have been cancelled from Monday (July 3, 2017) until the stat government withdraws the levy of taxes apart from GST. For the next two days being the weekend, the ticket rates will be charged as per the old system.

Due to this decision the box office fortunes of the films that have been released today (June 30) will be severely affected. As many as seven direct Tamil films have released today.

it is to be noted that the strike is not against GST but against the State Government's decision to levy the extra tax at whopping rates. It is worth noting that many states across the country have decided to not levy any extra tax on films apart from GST.

We hope the TN Government takes a positive decision and saves the Tamil film industry.