TN Theatre owners to cancel shows from July 3

Chennai : Theatre owners in Tamil Nadu today decided to cancel all shows with effect from July 3 following the imposition of 30 per cent Corporation Tax on movie tickets by the state government, a senior functionary of the state cinema theatre owners’ federation said.

The Federation representatives, who held a meeting here to take stock of the situation, decided to cancel the shows to urge the state government to withdraw the imposition of 30 per cent corporation tax, Tamil Nadu Cinema Theatre Owners’ Federation, President Abirami Ramanathan said.

Following the implementation of Goods and Service Tax from tomorrow and due to uncertainty over pricing of cinema tickets, most theatres in the state had earlier suspended advance booking of tickets, he added.

“We had earlier suspended advance booking in theatres. Now, we decided in the meeting that tickets will be sold in theatres for shows (tomorrow and day after) at existing prices itself,” Ramanathan told PTI.
The Federation said they welcomed the GST but they were unhappy over the corporation tax which was imposed by the state government.

“We welcome GST. We are not happy with the corporation tax which is 30 per cent. It is coming into effect from tomorrow. Kerala government has withdrawn it. We want the Tamil Nadu government to withdraw it too..,” he said.

As part of urging the government to reconsider its decision, he said theatre owners have decided to cancel all shows across the state.