Tax exemption for future global tournaments in India has again become a matter of dispute between the Board of Cricket in India (BCCI) and the International Cricket Board (ICC). Its worth mentioning that India has to host the T20 World Cup in 2021 and the 50-over World Cup in 2023.
There have been differences between the ICC and the BCCI over the exemption in taxes from the World T20 played in India in 2016 and was eventually won by a resurgent West Indies.
‘The ICC and BCCI are working together to resolve the issue of tax exemption for ICC tournaments. The tax exemption is in line with the hosting agreement that was signed by all parties in 2015.These agreements also have time limits so that we can work together to ensure that a world class successful event is organized. Apart from this, the ICC Board had agreed on a clear deadline for resolution of tax issues which we follow,” An ICC official was quoted in a report as saying by India Today.
BCCI not pleased with ICC’s mail
The ICC’s outgoing president Shashank Manohar and chief executive Manu Sahni were in regular contact with BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jai Shah, but BCCI officials did not like the tone of Jonathan Hall’s electronic mail, the legal head of world cricket’s apex body.
Hall wrote in his mail about not complying with the BCCI deadline in taxation as per the agreement. BCCI used to get tax exemption for global competitions before 2016 World T20. The ICC usually seeks excise duty exemption in imports of TV equipment, but in this case, Star Sports has a set-up in India as it also holds the rights to domestic matches of BCCI. This caused controversy during the 2016 World T20 and the matter reached an ICC tribunal.
“We know that the nomination process for the post of ICC chairman started from Tuesday and after that suddenly mail started coming. It is to be held in T20 World 2021 and One-Day World Cup 2023. As far as the deadline is concerned, we told the ICC that we cannot talk to government officials until the lockdown opens,” the BCCI official said.
