Paving the way for the levy and collection of taxes on entertainment and amusement in the state, the Punjab Cabinet on Wednesday approved ‘The Punjab Entertainments & Amusements Taxes (Levy & Collection by Local Bodies) Ordinance, 2017’.

The ordinance was approved at a meeting of the Punjab Cabinet here chaired by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.

However, no entertainment tax has been proposed on cinemas, multiplexes, amusement parks and other similar places providing facilities for entertainment and amusement.

The Cabinet discussed and approved a proposal mooted by the Local Government Department to levy nominal entertainment tax — Rs 5 per DTH (Direct to Home) connection and Rs 2 per local cable connection per month — by all the Urban Local Bodies and Gram Panchayats of the state, a government spokesperson said after the meeting.

The move is expected to generate an annual income of around Rs 45-Rs 47 crore for the Urban Local Bodies and Panchayats in the state.

“Of this, Rs 9.60 crore would accrue from nearly 16 lakh DTH connections and Rs 36.96 crore on 44 lakh cable connections across the state,” the spokesperson said.

Justifying the ordinance, the spokesperson said the move was necessitated by the introduction of GST by the Central government with effect from July 1 as a result of which entertainment tax being levied and collected by the state government through the Excise and Taxation Department stood withdrawn.

–IANS