The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has approached Supreme Court seeking its opinion on whether the sale of media rights falls under the purview of taxable ‘franchise services’ making it subject to service tax.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud has requested responses from the Finance Ministry and the Commissioner of Service Tax, Mumbai, concerning the BCCI’s appeals challenging a demand for payment of service tax totalling approximately Rs 250 crore, which includes penalties.
BCCI is of the opinion that their sale of media rights do not fall under ‘franchise services’ and hence they are not liable to pay service tax.
Last year, the Bombay High Court directed the BCCI to seek the opinion of the Supreme Court regarding the imposition of service tax for the services provided by them under agreements with MSM Satellite (Singapore) Pte Ltd and World Sport Group (India) Pvt Ltd in 2008 and 2009. This pertains to the telecast of Indian Premier League (IPL) matches played on Indian soil.