Chennai: Movie theatres in Tamil Nadu will remain shut from Monday to protest on the “lack of clarity" on the tax that would be levied following the implementation of the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) which has come into effect from Saturday.

“From Monday, all shows across theatres in the state will be suspended." said Abirami Ramanathan, president of the Tamil Nadu Film Chamber of Commerce. He added that the state government should clear the confusion by this weekend on the amount of tax that the theatre owners would be charged.

According to the state’s film chamber of commerce, the state government hasn’t announced whether it would levy the existing entertainment tax in addition to the GST. The federation said that the Kerala government has withdrawn it.

Currently, movie tickets have a base price of Rs50 for single screens and Rs120 for multiplexes with three or more screens. This is inclusive of the entertainment tax levied by the state or the local body and it varies from 20%-30% based on the location.

“If entertainment tax is added on top of the GST, we will be forced to pay 68% of the ticket rate as tax to the government," said Ramanathan.

Earlier the multiplex theatres had announced that the online booking for this weekend would be suspended.

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