Proportional allocation of weekly entertainments tax governs concession for second-run shows under the statutory scheme.

Weekly entertainments tax under the Andhra Pradesh Entertainments Tax Act is computed as a notional levy using the prescribed multiplier, not as a tax on a fixed number of shows. A Government concession for second-run shows must therefore be applied to the weekly tax by proportionately allocating that levy between normal and concessional shows actually exhibited during the week. The document explains that both competing methods of computation were inconsistent with the statutory scheme, and that the concession must operate in harmony with the weekly levy and the actual show mix.

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Issues: Whether the concession granted under the Government order issued under section 19A of the Andhra Pradesh Entertainments Tax Act, 1939 was to be computed by restricting the benefit to a reduced number of second-run shows, or by apportioning the weekly tax proportionately between normal and concessional shows actually exhibited during the week.

Analysis: The weekly tax under section 5(1) is not a tax on a fixed number of shows, but a weekly levy calculated by applying the prescribed percentage and multiplier for the local area and class of theatre. The multiplier in the Table is a notional factor for arriving at the weekly tax and does not represent the actual number of shows. The concession granted under the Government order must therefore operate on the weekly tax so computed and be correlated to the actual mix of normal and second-run shows exhibited during the week. The competing methods, one adopted by the Commissioner and the other suggested by the petitioners, were both found inconsistent with the scheme of the Act and the Government order. The proper method is to allocate the weekly tax proportionately between normal and concessional shows on the basis of the actual number of each shown during the week.

Conclusion: The impugned circular was incorrect in so far as it prescribed a different method of computation, and the tax concession was to be calculated by proportional allocation of the weekly tax between normal and second-run shows actually exhibited.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a fiscal levy is structured as a weekly tax computed by a notional multiplier, a concession granted for a specified category of shows must be applied proportionately to the weekly tax on the basis of the actual composition of taxable and concessional shows, so that the statutory levy and the exemption scheme operate harmoniously.

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