Don't allow EDM fests in Goa till organisers pay tax dues: NCP

PANAJI: The Goa unit of NCP on Wednesday demanded that the government should not allow two electronic dance music (EDM) festivals to take place in the state till the organisers pay " tax dues" pending for the last two years.

"The EDM festivals should not be allowed to take place this year by the state government as organisers of both the festival are yet to pay the tax money for last two events," NCP Goa spokesperson Trojano D'Mello told reporters in Panaji.

Two EDM festivals - Sunburn Goa and Supersonic - are scheduled to be held in the coastal state from December 27 to 30.

"How can the government allow the organisers to stay without paying taxes for last two events? This is money of tax payers. The state government should have recovered the money because we are a cash-starved state," D'Mello said.

"Both the event organisers together owe Rs 3 crore to the government," he claimed.

"There's a state police report which says you cannot have both the festivals on the same day due to traffic and law order issues. But the government-appointed committee has given a go ahead for the festivals," he said.

Meanwhile, Goa Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar said that the state government is determined to recover tax money from EDM organisers.

"The tax would be assessed by authorities and it would be collected. We are not lacking at any recovery," he said.

Parulekar said it would be wrong to blame the government for non-recovery of the taxes.

"We are following proper procedure," he added.

Shailendra Singh, Joint Managing Director, Percept which hosts Sunburn Goa, said they are following process of law.

"We are following process of law... We are law-abiding citizens and we are going by rules and regulations," he said.