By IANS,
Mumbai : The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Friday said the Maharashtra government lost Rs.4.99 crore (nearly Rs.50 million) in revenue by failing to levy entertainment duty on the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches played in the state in 2008.
Terming the IPL tourney as a “purely commercial” venture, the CAG urged the state government “to consider levying entertainment duty” since commercialised sports have considerable revenue potential. The CAG report was released here Friday evening.
“Further legislative sanction may be obtained for granting exemption from payment of entertainment duty rather than giving exemption on the basis of government resolution alone,” it said.
“The IPL matches were purely of a commercial nature and the franchisee owners of the eight teams comprised business tycoons and film stars who spent crores of rupees to buy the team and players for the world’s richest cricket tournament,” said the report.
It pointed out that IPL was conceptualised as an entertainment spectacle and was pitched as the ultimate destination of television entertainment.
Hence, it is obvious that the main objective of the IPL was to provide entertainment and so it merited levy of entertainment duty on ticket sales, the report said.
The CAG pointed out that the Delhi government has imposed tax on sale of IPL tickets.
The CAG said that keeping in view the seating capacity of the different stadia in the state where the 10 matches were held, the government forfeited Rs. 4.99 crore in tax collection.
This is the second time in two days that the State government has drawn flak for not levying tax on the IPL matches.
The Bombay High Court also slammed it over the same issue in a public interest litigation filed by Shiv Sena leader legislator Subhash Desai.