According to a report, the Supreme Court has recently retained the authority of the state governments to impose taxes on broadcasting and digital streaming services. This decision allows states to impose tax on recreational services, which is categorized as luxury under the seventh schedule of India. This means that cable TV broadcasters and the OTT platform operators are responsible for paying entertainment tax and entertainment tax to the central government to the central government.
The entertainment provided by entertainment is considered luxury
According to a recent Lilo ReportBench of Justice BV Nagartana and Ann Kotisore Singh said that it is fun. Enrollment has been classified as luxury under 62 In the seventh schedule of the Constitution of India (List II). The list includes all the articles that are under the control of the states in India, under the constitution, from topics like public order to stamp duty rate.
List I, under the seventh schedule of the Constitution of India Corps Subjects under the central governmentWhich includes communication. However, the court said that entertainment, which is a state article, can be provided through communication. As a result, according to the report, the broadcast will be accidental for it.
The Supreme Court also said that the broadcast does not exceed the topics under the list of entertainment union. The decision effectively maintains the right to impose entertainment tax on a state broadcasting services, while the central government can impose a service tax simultaneously.
“The television entertainment provided by them (diagnostic operators) through their modes operating, through broadcasting, 62 – List II means a luxury. The list is engaged in the activity of providing entertainment.
The case belonged to the Kerala Tax on Luxury Act, 2006 constitutional justification, which imposed luxury tax on cable TV services. The court said that the central and state governments could be taxed at different levels on various aspects (broadcasting and entertainment).
Over the top (OTT) platforms such as Netflix, Geohot Star, and Prime Video, which offer access to digital content, may face additional tax burden in the future. Earlier, state governments were given the option to impose tax on entertainment before introducing the goods and services tax (GST).