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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has been given the hosting rights for the 2023 ODI World Cup. The Indian cricket board will be hosting the event after 12 long years as they last hosted an ODI World Cup in 2011 when MS Dhoni-led India emerged champions. However, the 2023 edition will be a tad different for BCCI as they will be hosting the tournament entirely in India rather than co-hosting it with another country.
Possessing entire hosting rights means the Indian cricket board will make huge profits but that also means they will have to pay a hefty amount to the government of India as tax. The board is also aware of this and hence they have sought tax exemption from the government. The BCCI officials met with the Finance Minister of India, Nirmala Sitharaman a few days ago in the same regard.
A report in Dainik Jagran has claimed that the officials put forth the demand for tax exemption for organizing the 2023 World Cup before the government, in the meeting held. In reply, the Finance Ministry has assured BCCI officials that they will think about it. The officials present in the meeting included President Sourav Ganguly, Secretary Jay Shah, and Vice-President Rajeev Shukla.
“Our delegation had met the finance minister. We apprised them of the circumstances. Told them that if tax exemption is not given, then there will be problems in organizing international tournaments in India in the future. We told them that earlier also we have got a 10 percent TDS rebate for organizing International Cricket Council (ICC) tournaments in the country. The finance minister has assured the BCCI office-bearers to consider the request,” a senior BCCI official told Dainik Jagran.
Notably, the ICC takes guarantees for tax exemption from the governments of the host countries for hosting any of its tournaments. There has always been a dispute between the ICC and the BCCI regarding this matter. In 2011, the Manmohan Singh-led government agreed to tax exemption at the last moment. However, in 2016, when India hosted the T20 World Cup, the Narendra Modi government had given only a 10 percent TDS exemption.