A man has started a discussion on social media after he pointed out that cricket fans who went to watch the recently concluded Chennai Super Kings (CSK) vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) match in Chennai paid over 70 per cent tax on their tickets. Ravi Handa pointed out that a ticket with a base price of Rs 2,343 was sold for Rs 4,000 after taxes.
“Tax on IPL tickets is more than 70%,” said social media user. He added, “A ticket of 2343.75 becomes 4000 post taxes.”
He also shared an image of a ticket from the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) match at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium.
The ticket for a single person in the J Lower Stand was priced at Rs 4,000. According to the ticket details, the base price was Rs 2,343.75, with additional levies, including a 25% entertainment tax, 14% CGST, and 14% SGST.
In the post, they also mentioned that they received the ticket from another social media user, who termed it as “a joke to the taxpayers”.
Interestingly, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) pays zero per cent tax on IPL earnings since it is registered as a “charitable organization” under Section 12A of India’s Income Tax Act. The BCCI enjoys this exemption as it is promoting cricket, a non-profit activity.
In 2021, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) upheld BCCI’s argument, stating, “On the face of it, merely because a sports tournament is structured in such a manner so as to make it more popular, resulting in it in more paying sponsorships and greater mobilisation of resources, the basic character of activity of popularising cricket is not lost.”
The government deducts only 10 per cent TDS from the salaries of Indian players as TDS, while foreign players are subject to a 20 per cent TDS.
‘Tax-on-Tax’: Social media reactions
One social media quoted the post and wrote, “25% Entertainment Tax on the IPL Total Bill (after tax) has been there for 14 years now in Tamil Nadu.”
Another said, “Tax on tax. Wow.”
“Why your Rs 4,000 IPL ticket is a mini masterclass in India’s ‘Tax-on-Tax’ policy playbook. You’re not just paying to watch the match. You’re funding a policy loophole,” said yet another social media user.
A Reddit user explained, “As per the current law, this is totally correct. A lot of States have abolished the entertainment tax, and some of them have not. In some sectors, you must be in some of the states that still have an entertainment tax.”
“It is a luxury to buy IPL tickets, and so you would pay higher tax rate. Agreed entertainment tax is levied, but it is levied by the state government alone. So the Central government is just getting that CGST only,” added another.
Yet another Redditor wrote, “Entertainment Tax was subsumed under GST, but with a catch… only Entertainment Tax (other than those levied by local bodies) was subsumed. Entertainment Tax levied by local bodies was not subsumed. This is why the Tamil Nadu Government is imposing Entertainment Tax separately. Secondly, as per Section 15(2)(a) of the CGST Act, 2017, the Value of Supply includes any taxes, duties, cesses, fees, and charges levied under any law in force, except those under GST Acts, if charged separately by the supplier. Thus, GST is charged on the subtotal, which includes the Entertainment Tax, effectively leading to a tax-on-tax situation.”
Source from: https://www.financialexpress.com/trending/70-tax-on-ipl-tickets-social-media-post-goes-viral/3792606/
