IPL 2017: Gujarat Lions issued with INR 3 crore tax notice

The Gujarat Lions have been asked to pay entertainment tax for conducting two IPL matches in the city of Kanpur on May 10 and 13 by the UP govt's entertainment department.

The entertainment department on Saturday issued notice to Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Gujarat Lions (GL) and asked them to pay entertainment tax for conducting two IPL matches in the city of Kanpur on May 10 and 13. According to a report published in TOI, the Uttar Pradesh state government had given green signal to the entertainment department to realise tax from Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) before the match. The matter was raised before the two IPL matches but UPCA had sought time from the district magistrate. It is notable here that the Rajkot-based franchise had played two of their home games in Kanpur as well.

After those two matches were conducted, the entertainment department placed the demand to pay entertainment tax. However, the UPCA officials stated that Gujarat Lions had declared Green Park as its second home ground. UPCA had no role in conducting the matches and hence, UPCA was not liable to pay any entertainment tax.

After this development, the entertainment department has sent notice to Gujarat Lions and asked them to pay entertainment tax for the two IPL matches played in the city on May 10 and 13. The tax amount is understood to be around INR 3 crore. ADM (city) KP Singh confirmed that a notice has been issued to Gujarat Lions. The franchise, which was brought into IPL for a period of two years along with Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) to replace Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) during their two-year ban period, probably won’t be seen in IPL henceforth.