(W.P. Act X of 1958)
[23 April 1958 ]
An Act to consolidate the law
relating to the levy of a duty in
Preamble.– WHEREAS it is
expedient to consolidate the law relating to the levy of a duty in respect of
admission to entertainments in the [4][Punjab ];
It is hereby enacted as follows:-
1. Short
title, extent and commencement.– (1) This Act may be called the [5][Punjab ]
Entertainments Duty Act, 1958.
(2) It
shall come into force at once.
2. Definitions.– In this Act, unless there is
anything repugnant in the subject or context,–
(a) “admission
to an entertainment” includes admission to any place in which the entertainment
is held;
(b) “Collector”
means an officer appointed by the Government to discharge, throughout any
specified local area, the functions of a Collector under this Act;
(c) “Commissioner”
means an officer appointed by the Government to discharge the functions of
Commissioner under this Act in any specified area;
[11][(d) “Entertainment”
includes any exhibition, performance, amusement or horse racing to which
persons are admitted on payment;]
(f) “payment
for admission” includes–
(i) any
payment made by a person who having been admitted to one part of a place of
entertainment is subsequently admitted to another part thereof for admission to
which a payment involving duty or additional duty is required;
(ii) any
payment for seats or other accommodation in a place of entertainment;
(iii) any
payment for any purpose whatsoever connected with an entertainment which a
person is required to make as a condition of attending or continuing to attend
the entertainment in addition to the payment, if any, for admission to the
entertainment;
(g) “prescribed”
means prescribed by the rules made under this Act;
(h) “proprietor”
in relation to any entertainment includes any person responsible for the
management thereof;
(i) “seats”
include standing accommodation;
(j) “ticket”
means a ticket indicating–
(i) the
class to which the holder of the ticket is entitled to admission;
(ii) the amount paid or
payable for admission and in case of any holder of the ticket being admitted
without making payment therefor the amount otherwise payable for admission; and
(iii) the
entertainments duty paid thereon.
3. Duty
on payments for admission to entertainments.– [16][(1) There shall be levied and paid
to the Government on all payments for admission to any entertainment, a duty,
hereinafter referred to as the ‘entertainment duty’, [17][at the rate of [18][[19][twenty] per cent] of such payment
excluding the amount of the duty].
[21][Provided that, for a period of five
years, the entertainment duty shall be levied and paid to the Government on all
payments for admission to cinema houses at the rate of thirty per cent of such
payment and shall be converted into a fixed charge per day in respect of
different categories of cinema houses, screening or exhibiting movies. The
Government shall determine the categories of cinema houses and fix per day the
rate of entertainment duty for each cinema:]
Provided
[22][further] [23][* * *] that
where the proprietor of an entertainment admits any person to any place of
entertainment without any payment or on payment of an amount less than the
amount normally charged for admission thereto, the entertainment duty shall
nevertheless be levied and paid on the amount which would have been normally
charged for admission to that place.
Explanation
I– In case
there be different classes in connection with an entertainment the phrase
“place of entertainment” means the class to which a person is admitted.
Explanation II– The fact that
any such person as is mentioned in the proviso to this sub-section has been
admitted to a class more advantageously placed for viewing the entertainment
than the class to which the others making larger payments are admitted, may be
taken into account for determining whether the payment made is not that normally
charged] [24][:]
[25][Provided further that if the amount
of duty at the aforementioned rate is not a multiple of ten paisas, the amount
of duty shall be rounded to the next higher multiple of ten paisas.]
(2) Where the payment for admission to an
entertainment is made by means of a lump sum paid as a subscription or
contribution to any society or for a season ticket or for the right of
admission to a series of entertainments or to any entertainment during a
certain period of time or for any privilege, right, facility or thing combined
with the right of admission to any entertainment or involving such right of
admission without further payment or at a reduced charge, the entertainments
duty shall be paid, on the amount of the lump sum; but where the Government is
of the opinion that the payment of a lump sum or any payment for a ticket
represents payments for other privileges, rights or purposes besides the
admission to an entertainment, or covers admission to an entertainment during
any period for which the duty has not been in operation, the duty shall be
charged on such amount as appears to the Government to represent the right of
admission to entertainments in respect of which the entertainments duty is
payable.
[26][3-A. Duty
on special classes of entertainment.– Notwithstanding anything contained in
section 3, the duty on the entertainments mentioned in column No. 2 of the
following Table shall be charged at the rate mentioned against each
entertainment in column No.3:-
Sr.
No.
|
Entertainment
|
Rate of duty
|
1.
|
Admission to horse racing
|
Two hundred percent of the payment
for admission or two hundred rupees per admission ticket, whichever is
higher.
|
2.
|
Circus
|
No duty
|
3.
|
Fashion show
|
Twenty percent of the total amount
paid to the owner or management of the premises or total expenditure made by
organizer or sponsor, whichever is higher.
|
4.
|
Musical show
|
Twenty
percent of the payment for admission in a musical show where admission
charges are five hundred rupees per person or more.]
|
4. Liability
of complimentary tickets to entertainment duty.– Entertainments duty shall be levied
and paid on all complimentary tickets issued by the proprietor of an
entertainment for any performance:
Provided
that, subject to such conditions as may be prescribed[27], no such duty
shall be charged on complimentary tickets issued to representatives of the
press:
[28][Provided further that no duty on
admission to an entertainment shall be charged from a bona fide proprietor of that entertainment of his spouse or
children subject to a maximum of four persons in a show.]
5. Method
of levy.–
(1) Save as otherwise provided by this Act, no person shall be admitted on
payment to any entertainment where the payment is subject to entertainments
duty except–
(i) with
a ticket stamped with an impressed, embossed, engraved or adhesive stamp (not
before used) issued by the Government for the purposes of revenue and denoting
that the proper entertainments duty has been paid; or
(ii) with
a ticket sealed or printed in the manner prescribed by rules framed by the
Government.
[29][(2) The
Government may, by an order in writing, require the proprietor of any
entertainment in respect of which the entertainments duty is payable under
section 3, or on the application of any such proprietor permit him, on such conditions
as the Government may prescribe, to pay the amount of the duty due–
(a) by
a consolidated payment; or
(b) in
accordance with returns of the payments for admission to the entertainment and
on account of the duty; or
(c) in
accordance with the results recorded by any mechanical contrivance that
automatically registers the number of persons admitted.]
(3) The
provisions of sub-section (1) shall not apply to any entertainment in respect
of which the duty is payable in accordance with the provisions of sub-section
(2).
[30][6. Penalty for non-compliance with sections 4
and 5.–
If any person is admitted to any place of entertainment and the provisions of
section 4 or section 5, as the case may be, are not complied with, or the
payment of entertainments duty is otherwise evaded [31][* * *] the Collector shall, in
addition to the recovery of the entertainments duty evaded, under-paid or not
paid, impose on the proprietor of the entertainment, a penalty not exceeding a
sum of five hundred rupees, or a sum not greater than five times the
entertainments duty the payment of which was evaded, under-paid or not paid,
whichever is greater:
Provided
that no such penalty shall be imposed unless the person on whom it is to be
imposed or his duly authorised agent is given an opportunity of being heard by
the Collector or by an officer authorised by him in this behalf.]
6-A. [Mode of levying entertainments duty on
cinemas.] Deleted by the Punjab Finance Ordinance, 1971 (XI of 1971).
7. Liability for punishment.– When an
employee of the proprietor of a place of entertainment or a person acting on
behalf of the proprietor has been found guilty of any offence punishable under
this Act, the proprietor, as well as the actual offender, shall be punished for
the offence committed:
Provided that the proprietor shall
not be punished where he proves to the satisfaction of Court, or of the
Collector, that he had taken all reasonable precautions to prevent the
commission of the offence.
8. Entertainments
for charitable or educational purposes exempted.– (1) The Collector may, on such
conditions as he considers necessary, exempt from liability to entertainments
duty any entertainment where he is satisfied that the whole of the net proceeds
of the entertainment will be devoted to philanthropic, charitable, educational,
athletics, sports, national or scientific purposes.
(2) Exemption by Government.– The
Government may by general or special order exempt any entertainment or class of
entertainments from liability to entertainments duty.
9. Security for observance of condition
of exemption.– The Collector, or the Government, when exempting any
entertainment from liability to entertainments duty under sub-section (1) or
sub-section (2) of section 8, as the case may be, may direct that the
proprietor of the entertainment concerned shall furnish to the Collector such
security as he may require for ensuring the observance of the conditions
subject to which the exemption is granted.
10. Security for default in
payment of duty.– Where it appears to the Collector, or to an officer
authorised by him in this behalf, that the proprietor of an entertainment has
wilfully failed to make suitable arrangements for the payment of duty in
accordance with the provisions of this Act, or it is apprehended that he will
not pay the duty in full, the Collector or the said officer may, for reasons to
be recorded in writing, call upon him to furnish such cash security as he
considers appropriate, failing which the Collector or the said officer may
direct that the entertainment shall not be proceeded with.
11. Power to make rules.– (1) The Government may, after
previous publication, make rules[32] for securing the payment of the
entertainments duty and generally for carrying into effect the provisions of
this Act, which shall be laid before the Provincial Assembly at its earliest
session.
(2) Without
prejudice to the generality of the power conferred by sub-section (1) such
rules may provide for all or any of the following matters:-
(a) supply
and use of stamps or stamped tickets or sealing, printing or stamping of
tickets and securing of the defacement of stamps when used;
(b) use
of tickets covering the admission of more than one person and the calculation
of the duty thereon; and the payment of the duty on the transfer from one part
of a place of entertainment to another and on payments for seats or other
accommodation;
(c) controlling
the use of mechanical contrivances (including the prevention of the use of the
same mechanical contrivance for payments of a different amount), and securing
proper records of admission by means of mechanical contrivances;
(d) checking of admissions,
including the requirement that the persons admitted to an entertainment should
retain their tickets or portions thereof and produce them for examination by
the checking staff;
(e) the
form, maintenance and production of accounts and the furnishing of returns by
the proprietors of entertainments;
(f) renewal
of damaged or spoiled stamps and the procedure to be followed on applications
for refund;
(g) keeping
of accounts of all stamps used under this Act;
(h) presentation
and disposal of applications for exemption from payment of the entertainments
duty or the refund thereof;
(i) exemption
from entertainments duty of soldiers, sailors and airmen [33][* * *] belonging to the Defence
Forces of Pakistan or of any foreign country; [34][and]
(j) prescribing
the rank of Excise, Taxation, Revenue or Police Officers for the purposes of
section 12.
(3) If
any person acts in contravention of, or fails to comply with any of the
provisions of such rules or any direction given under section 10, he shall be
liable in respect of each contravention, or failure, to such penalty not
exceeding five hundred rupees as the Collector may determine.
12. Power to enter place of
entertainment for purposes of the Act.– (1) The Collector or any Excise,
Taxation, Revenue or Police Officer not below such rank as the Government may
prescribe may enter any place of entertainment while the entertainment is
proceeding, and any place ordinarily used as a place of entertainment, at any
reasonable time, with a view to seeing whether the provisions of this Act or
the rules made thereunder are being complied with.
(2) If
any person prevents or obstructs an officer empowered under sub-section (1)
from entering a place of entertainment he shall, in addition to any other
punishment to which he is liable under any law for the time being in force, be
liable, on conviction before a Magistrate, to a fine not exceeding two hundred
rupees.
13. Recoveries.– (1) The
entertainments duty evaded or under-paid or penalty imposed shall be payable
within the time specified by the Collector.
(2) If any sum payable under this Act is not
paid within the time allowed for its payment and the person from whom it is due
does not show cause to the satisfaction of the Collector, or any officer
authorised by him, why he should not pay the same, such sum (including the cost
of recovery) may be recovered under a warrant in the prescribed form signed by
the Collector, by the distress and sale of movable property belonging to such
person. The warrant may be addressed to an officer of the Excise and Taxation
Department for execution, and in executing it he may obtain such assistance
from other servants of the said Department as he may consider necessary.
(3) Notwithstanding
anything contained in sub-section (2) any sum on account of entertainments duty
or penalty under this Act remaining unpaid shall be recoverable as an arrear of
land revenue.
14. Delegation of Powers by the Government.– Any of the powers conferred and
duties imposed upon the Government by this Act may be exercised or performed,
subject to such conditions as the Government may prescribe, by any person whom
the Government may, by general or special order, empower in this behalf.
15. Revision.– (1) The
Commissioner may, on his own motion, at any time, or on an application made to
him in this behalf within thirty days of the date of an order made by the
Collector, under this Act, call for the record of any proceedings held or any
order made by the Collector, for the purposes of satisfying himself as to the
legality or propriety of such proceedings or order and may pass such order in
reference thereto as he may think fit.
(2) The application referred to in
sub-section (1) shall be written on standard water-marked plain judicial paper
and stamped with a court-fee lable of the value of rupee one and shall be accompanied
by a certified copy of the order sought to be revised and be presented by the
applicant in person, or through a duly authorised agent, or be sent under
registered post.
(3) The
day on which the order complained of was passed and the time requisite for
obtaining a copy of the order sought to be revised shall be excluded in
computing the period of thirty days under sub-section (1).
16. Repeal.– (1) The following enactments are
repealed:-
(d) the
Bahawalpur State Entertainments Duty Act,
1948;
(f) the
Khairpur Entertainments Duty Act, 1945;
(2) Any
exemption granted under any of the enactments enumerated in sub-section (1)
shall continue to be in force as if the same were granted under sub-section (2)
of section 8.
[1]For statement of objects and reasons, see Gazette of West Pakistan (Extraordinary), dated 6th August,
1956, pp. 788-89.
This Act was passed by the West Pakistan
Assembly on 26th March, 1958; assented to by the Governor of West Pakistan on
17th April, 1958; and, published in the West Pakistan Gazette (Extraordinary),
dated 23rd April, 1958, pp.591-598.
[11]Substituted
by the Punjab Finance Act, 1992 (VI of 1992).
[12]Substituted by the Punjab Laws (Adaptation) Order, 1974 (Pb. A.O. 1 of
1974), for “Government of West Pakistan ”.
[13]Inserted by
the West Pakistan Entertainments Duty (Amendment) Ordinance, 1969 (IX of 1969)
and deleted by the Punjab Finance Ordinance, 1971 (XI of 1971).
[16]Substituted
by the Punjab Finance Act, 1977 (XV of 1977).
[17]Substituted
by the Punjab Entertainments Duty (Amendment)
Ordinance, 1983 (VI of 1983).
[18]Substituted
by the Punjab Finance Act, 1992 (VI of 1992).
[19]Substituted
for the words “sixty-five” by the Punjab Finance Act, 2011 (XV of 2011).
[20]Deleted by
the Punjab Entertainments Duty (Amendment)
Ordinance, 1983 (VI of 1983).
[21]Added by the Punjab
Finance Ordinance, 2001 (VI of 2001). Under Article 5A of the Provisional
Constitution Order 1999 (I of 1999), as amended, read with Article 270AA of the
Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, it shall not be subject
to any limitation as to duration prescribed in the Constitution.
[22]Inserted by the Punjab Finance Act, 2004 (XIX of 2004).
[23]Deleted by
the Punjab Entertainments Duty (Amendment)
Ordinance, 1983 (VI of 1983).
[24]Full stop
replaced by the Punjab Finance Ordinance, 1981 (XIII of 1981).
[25]Added ibid., and later substituted by the
Punjab Finance Act, 1992 (VI of 1992).
[26]Added by the Punjab Finance Act 1992 (VI of 1992); substituted first by
the Punjab Finance Act, 2011 (XV of 2011) and then by the Punjab Finance Act
2013 (XVI of 2013).
[28]Added by the Punjab Finance Act, 1992 (VI of 1992).
[29]Substituted
by the Punjab Finance Ordinance, 1969 (VII of
1969).
[30]Substituted
by the West Pakistan Entertainments Duty
(Amendment) Ordinance, 1969 (IX of 1969).
[31]The words “or
in the case of any cinema the entertainment duty is not paid in accordance with
the provisions of section 6-A”, deleted by the Punjab Finance Ordinance, 1971
(XI of 1971).
[32]For rules see Gazette of West Pakistan
(Extraordinary), dated 29th
November, 1958 . pp.1627 to 1639.
[33]The words “in
uniform” deleted by the West Pakistan Entertainment Duty (Amendment) Ordinance,
1960 (XVI of 1960).
[34]Added by the Punjab Finance Ordinance, 1971 (XI of 1971).
[35]Inserted by
the West Pakistan Entertainments Duty (Amendment) Ordinance, 1969 (IX of 1969)
and deleted by the Punjab Finance Ordinance, 1969 (XI of 1971).
[38]III of 1936.
[39]XI of 1937.
[40]I of 1923.
[41]Added by the West Pakistan Entertainments Duty (Amendment) Ordinance,
1962 (XLIX of 1962).
[42]I of 1942.
[43]I of 1958.
[44]The Schedule was added by the West
Pakistan Entertainments Duty (Second Amendment) Ordinance, 1969 (XIX of 1969),
and deleted by the Punjab Finance Ordinance, 1971 (XI of 1971).
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