Rajinikanth: Double taxation on TN film industry will affect lakhs

Rajinikanth finally opened up on his stand against the 30% corporation tax levied by the Tamil Nadu government on theatre owners. The addition of the corporation tax, over and above the 28% GST, led theatre owners to declare an indefinite strike on 3 July.

On his Twitter account, Rajinikanth wrote, "Keeping in mind the livelihood of lakhs of people in the Tamil film industry, I sincerely request the Tamil Nadu government to seriously consider our plea."

Several members of the film industry have already approached chief minister K Palaniswami to do away with the additional entertainment tax.

Actor-director Kamal Haasan, in a report by IANS news agency, said, "Filmmaking has been made difficult deliberately. There is further torture and systemic corruption that the film industry has to endure under this regime."

The actor also said, "Film industry is one among the many industries asphyxiated by the prevailing systemic corruption in the state. I anticipate even stronger protests soon."

The theatre owners' strike has left the film industry crippled, with upcoming releases struggling to find screen space.

We are not against GST and we have been making it clear every now and then. We are all for GST, but we want concession from the state government since governments in neighbouring states have agreed to demands of theatre owners and waived off local taxes. Cinema owners will have to pay only GST."

- With inputs from IANS