Hyderabad: To boost the revenues of local bodies, the Telangana government is examining the feasibility of levying an entertainment tax on certain commercial establishments, such as theaters and amusement parks, among others.
According to a report published by The New Indian Express, a committee headed by Chief Secretary K Ramakrishna Rao, comprising an inter-departmental team of special chief secretaries, principal secretaries and secretaries as its members, has been constituted to study how different states have been levying such tax on entertainment and amusement.
The report also states that a preliminary report would be prepared by the committee in 30 days and a final report in 60 days.
As per the 101st Constitutional Amendment, which introduced the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, the power of the states to levy taxes was controlled, while allowing the local bodies the leverage to levy certain taxes.
The 62nd entry to the state list in the amended tax regime allows taxes on entertainments and amusements levied and collected by a panchayat, a municipality, a regional council or a district council.
The state government is seeing this an opportunity for the local bodies to gain additional revenues by levying such taxes.
