MUMBAI: The growing taxes have been of great concern to all. The recent move of the Delhi government to hike entertainment tax to Rs 40 just added to the growing woes. To address this, the newly formed multi system operator (MSO) body All India Digital Cable Federation (AIDCF) has submitted its recommendation to the select Goods and Services Tax (GST) committee.

Through the recommendation, the association has suggested that entertainment tax (ET) be subsumed under GST.

It can be noted that the entertainment tax, which is being submitted by MSOs, varies from state to state. So while Delhi pays Rs 40, Maharashtra pays a sum of Rs 45. What’s more, in some states like West Bengal and Kerala, even the municipality collects entertainment tax thus adding to the burden.

“It is for this reason that we have asked the GST committee to subsume ET into GST for all the states and municipalities in India. This will also mean a uniform taxation policy where no one will have to pay separately to state governments or to municipalities,” a source close to the development tells Indiantelevision.com.

Meanwhile, the source also suggests that a similar recommendation has been sent by the DTH Operators Association, who currently have to pay close to 40 per cent of their income in taxes. However, at the time of filing this report, DTH Operators Association president and Videocon d2h CEO Anil Khera was unavailable for comment despite repeated attempts.

It may be recalled that in April this year, Khera had welcomed GST wholeheartedly and had said that it would only help the DTH sector to prosper. “DTH is the biggest victim of multiple taxation policy and GST will simplify that. The industry needs a uniform taxation system and the sooner it comes the better it is,” Khera had then said.