TFI Service Tax Dharna

Tollywood demand the service-tax to be exempted. Already a section of movie industry has been exempted from paying the tax. On Monday the entire Telugu film industry protested at the Film Chamber premises to exempt from 12.36 percent service tax. MAA President Murali Mohan, Film Chamber President Tammareddy Bharadwaja, Allu Aravind, Sagar, V B Rajendra Prasad, Dil Raju, Kaikala Satyanarayana, Venkatesh, Jagapathi Babu, Ashok Kumar, Sunil, Nani, Brahmanandam, Aali, Venu Madhav, Nagineedu, etc., participated in the strike along with Film Chamber members, artists and technicians. The entire South Indian showbiz industries would go on hunget strike demanding the exemption of tax.

Addressing the media on Monday Murali Mohan said, “The industry is already paying several taxes to the government. Now once again the government has come out with a new scheme of 12.36 service tax which is becoming a big burden for the producers. Cinema is unpredictable since it’s a glamour field. Industry people are forced to maintain status irrespective of their earnings. The artists might appear rich in silky clothes outside but no one is aware of their torn banian which they wear inside. Many senior artists are struggling for their daily bread by paying taxes which the government is not aware off. It never tried to consider our demand when the industry is in real trouble. Therefore we request the government to realize our problems and scrap 12.36 percent tax. On this matter the entire south Indian film industries will meet the Finance Minister P Chidambaram and submit our demand.”

Echoing the similar view Tammareddy Bharadwaja said, “Our industry is paying the entertainment tax to the government which no other business firm does. Apart from that we are paying several other taxes. Now the government imposed new burden on producers called service tax. Hence the entire south India film industries together decided to protest against it.”

Allu Aravind said, “I felt very happy three years ago when I learned through a Bollywood producer that 95% of black money was scrapped away. To tell the truth it’s only the film industry which is using white money to pay the tax. The industry does not require black money. The government is only encouraging the black money by increasing taxes. So we request the central government to immediately exempt this service tax.”

D Ramanaidu said, “It’s unfair to implement 12.36 service tax at once on the film industry because we can’t predict the position of the movie industry. At this juncture paying such huge taxes will be big burdens on the producers. So I request the government will understand our difficulties and eradicate the service taxes.”

Ashok Kumar said, “There is a retirement period for doctors, engineers and lawyers. However, in film industry none can predict his future. It’s not right on part of the government to implement the service tax on the industry which is already paying several other taxes. It will be a great loss to the producers at this situation. It’s not fair to harass us just because the government was able to bring out the black money from Swiss banks.”