Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has decided to refund the State GST collected on screening of five movies in the state.
This is in accordance with the directions issued by the Commissionerate of CT & GST and the Finance Department under the reimbursement provision. The refund applies to two Odia films, DAMaN and Delivery Boy, and three Hindi films, Zwigato, 12th Fail, and The Sabarmati Report.
In a letter issued on August 13, the Finance Department directed all CT & GST Territorial Range Heads for details on the reimbursements granted to these five films.
In 2022, the then BJD government had declared DAMaN, based on the government’s malaria eradication programme, completely tax free. Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s cinematic gem, ’12th Fail’, was also accorded the tax-free status in the state and so also, ‘The Sabarmati Report’, based on the 2002 Godhra train burning incident in Gujarat.
The government had also waived off entertainment tax on Odia film, ‘Delivery Boy’, which portrayed the obstacles faced by a delivery boy and spreads awareness on road safety measures, and Hindi movie ‘Zwigato’, directed by Nandita Das.
