Budget 2013: Chidambaram delivers blockbuster at box-office

NEW DELHI: Bollywood has a reason to smile. “To add to their spirit of celebration I propose to exempt the industry from service tax on copyrights relating to recording of cinematographic films,’’ said the finance minister.
Earlier, the service tax charged to producers could not be passed on to other participants in the supply chain. Now, a filmmaker who makes a Rs 100 crore film can well hope to save up to Rs 25 crore thanks to the exemption.
Apoorva Mehta of Dharma Production said, “This will certainly be a relief for producers and production houses, but details are awaited to ascertain the actual relief.’’
The film industry had demanded that the government restore service tax exemption on transmission of digital cinema. However, the relief they have got in cinema halls is set off by non-theatrical avenues like satellite TV transmission.
Filmmaker Sanjay Puran Chauhan said, “If there is no service tax on digital prints, it does benefit films that are made on controlled budgets.”
Sajid Nadiadwala’s ‘Housefull 2’ will be the first big film to benefit from this exemption.
Union Budget 2013
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