Several film producers met the chief minister Mr Kirankumar reddy today at his camp office in Hyderabad and appealed to him to announce some concessions to the Telugu films.

The producers requested the CM to reduce VAT on movies to one percent from four percent and impose some restrictions on dubbed movies. Presently, the low-budget Telugu films produced in the State pay a tax of seven per cent, high budget Telugu films produced in the State 15 per cent and films produced outside the State, films dubbed into Telugu and films of other languages, 20 per cent.

In addition to the above, producers are also paying VAT at the rate of 4 per cent presently. The film producers have been arguing for a long time that the state government has already been collecting several sorts of taxes from the movie industry and the imposition of VAT has only added to their existing burden.

The producers till recently demanded the complete removal of VAT on movies but are now seeking its reduction at least. “If the Government can’t remove the VAT totally, it can be reduced to provide some relief to the producers,” said a leading producer.

The government has been charging entertainment tax at the rate of 7 per cent on the old Telugu films of five years old and above and on films run repeatedly.