Hyderabad, August 09: Service tax officials visited some Tollywood production houses on Monday and reportedly reminded them to pay their service tax dues. The offices of top producers Allu Arvind, Dil Raju, and Bellamkonda Suresh were reportedly visited.
Many producers have received notices to pay up their service tax arrears but they have been protesting against the 10 per cent service tax on the film’s total budget, for which they intend to seek exemption from the government since the industry is in dire straits.
On Monday, five officials visited the office of producer Dil Raju denied any such visit. Bellamkonda Suresh, however, agreed that officials had visited his office. “I am in Chennai and I heard that some tax officials visited my office and made enquiries,” he said.
The producers are hoping that the Andhra Film Chamber of Commerce, will take up the matter with the government and get the additional burden waived.
“If a film costs Rs.20 crore, the producer has to cough up around Rs.2 crore as service tax. This is unfair since we are already reeling under multiple taxes. Also, the producer shouldn’t really pay a service tax since he is not offering any service. The entertainment tax should be sufficient,” says producer Devineni Prasad, who has received notices from service tax officials.
He says he will take the legal route to safeguard his interests. “More than me, I think innumerable small producers will suffer due to this new tax,” he laments.