Punjab cabinet paves way for entertainment tax on DTH, cable

The Punjab cabinet today gave its go-ahead for the levy of entertainment tax on DTH and local cable connections by municipalities and panchayats.
'The Punjab Entertainments & Amusements Taxes (Levy & Collection by Local Bodies) Ordinance, 2017' was approved by the Cabinet during a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh here.
The Cabinet discussed and approved a proposal mooted by the Local Government Department to levy nominal entertainment tax at the rate of Rs 5 per DTH connection and Rs 2 per local cable connection per month by all the Urban Local Bodies and gram panchayats of the state, an official release said here.

The move, according to the release, is expected to generate annual income of around Rs 45-47 crore for the Urban Local Bodies and panchayats.
Of this, Rs 9.60 crore would accrue on nearly 16 lakh DTH connections and Rs 36.96 crore on 44 lakh cable connections across the state, the release said.
However, no entertainment tax has been proposed on cinemas, multiplexes, amusement parks and other similar places providing facilities for entertainment and amusement, the release said.
The move was necessitated by the introduction of GST by the Government of India with effect from July 1, 2017, as a result of which entertainment tax being levied and collected by the state government stood withdrawn, the release said.