On Wednesday, 1 February 2023, the Hon'ble Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, presented Union Budget 2023 in the Lok Sabha.
We bring you the key amendments proposed in Finance Bill 2023 in respect of media and entertainment sector.
The M&E industry has redefined itself in recent times fuelled by growth of digital infrastructure, digital media adoption and digital assets. The M&E companies too adopted to the opportunity to reinvent themselves with opening up of platforms facilitating buy and sell of digital assets, gamification on e-commerce apps etc.
M&E sector in India is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13% to reach INR 2.3 trillion in 2024. This impressive growth factors various opportunities for the Indian media businesses with an aim to make a healthy contribution towards India’s US$ 5 trillion economy aspiration.
Given the above, the M&E industry, which is still recovering from the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic, had high expectations from the Union Budget in terms of having “infrastructure” status, reduction in GST rates on live entertainment and theatre tickets and incentives and exemptions to reduce cost of doing business. However, there has been no expected relief and the M&E industry has been left wanting again in the Union Budget.
The Government has proposed to provide clarity on the withholding tax on winnings from online games which is certain to impact the online gaming industry.
