CAG raps Maharashtra government over tax on IPL matches

A report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) on revenue receipts of the Maharashtra government for 2008-09 has recommended a levy of Rs4.99 crore on IPL cricket matches being organised in Mumbai.

The report was tabled in the Assembly on Friday. It pointed out that no entertainment duty was levied on the IPL matches organised in 2008, of which six were played at Wankhede stadium and four at DY Patil stadium in Navi Mumbai.

''The IPL matches were of a purely commercial nature and the franchisee owners of the eight teams, comprising business tycoons and film stars, spent crores of rupees to buy the teams and players from all cricket-playing nations for the world's richest cricket tournament.

The IPL was conceptualised as an entertainment spectacle and was pitched as the ultimate destination of TV entertainment. It is thus obvious that the main objective of IPL was to provide entertainment and hence merited levy of ED on sale of tickets.

It is also pertinent to mention that the Government of Delhi has treated IPL as a commercial venture and has accordingly decided to impose ED on the sale of tickets,'' the report said.

The Maharashtra government came in for sharp criticism for losing nearly Rs4.99 crore (Rs49.99 million) in 2008 by failing to charge entertainment tax on the Indian Premier League (IPL) tourney.