Ahead of festive season, 50 squads gear up to keep a watch on entertainment tax evaders

A special meeting has been called for the hoteliers in the coming week to ensure that there is no evasion. “We have already intimated the five star and three star hotels about the entertainment duty. A meeting to brief them about the payment and also consequences of evasion will be put forth at the meeting,’’ said district entertainment duty official Mohini Chavan.

While the year 2014 had seen a Rs 7 lakh increase in tax collection from these two days, the department is hopeful that this year too they will see an increase with no evasion from the party organisers. Last year, there were 130 event organisers that had sought permissions and this year too, there is bound to be a rise, said Chavan, adding that the high penalty of Rs 50,000 set by the department on possible tax evaders helped to keep a check on illegal parties “We had sent notices to all the event organisers asking them to take necessary permission. The penalty of Rs 50,000 and twice the amount of entertainment duty tax, which we threatened to impose on illegal parties, proved to be effective,” Chavan said. The department levied 10 per cent duty in rural areas on the entry fee while parties in cities drew 20 per cent duty and 30 per cent at hill stations—Lonavala or Khandala. This year, the department is also ensuring that the entry fee is as per the venue as the entertainment duty based on the ticket. “While they come to the office to take permissions, we ensure that the entry fee is justified as we charge the duty on the ticket,’’said another official from the department.

Event organisers and hoteliers are gearing up for the two days and have said that they are taking the necessary permissions from the police and entertainment department. “We have to approach both. There should be a single window system so that it will ease the trouble of taking permissions,’’ said an organiser.