Section 4

Notwithstanding any tax, duty, fee or other charge leviable in connection with the import and censorship of films, or with the exhibition of films on which a charge is made for admission to that exhibition or with any other business relating to films under the provisions of any other written law, there shall be levied, collected and paid to the Director-General, a film-hire duty in respect of the proceeds derived or deemed for the purposes of this Act to have been derived from the renting of films but excluding goods and services tax charged thereon.

Film-hire duty shall be assessed in accordance with section 9 and shall be payable in 4 instalments not later than one month after the last day of March, June, September and December in any year or after each period of 13 weeks in any year.

It shall not be necessary for the Director-General to make any demand for the payment of film-hire duty.

Without prejudice to any other remedy, on a failure of any renter of films to pay any film-hire duty when it is due, the Minister may —

In addition the Minister may recover any such film-hire duty payable as a civil debt due to the Government.

The Director-General shall be responsible for the assessment and collection of film-hire duty and shall pay all amounts collected into the Consolidated Fund.

It shall be lawful for the Director-General, if it is proved to his satisfaction that any money has been overpaid as film-hire duty under this Act, to order the refund of the money so overpaid.

No refund shall be allowed under subsection (7) unless a claim in respect thereof is made within 12 months after the overpayment was made.

Whenever for any reason any part of film-hire duty which ought to have been paid under this Act has been short paid or the whole or any part of such film-hire duty, after having been paid, has been owing to any cause erroneously refunded, the person liable to pay the film-hire duty or the person to whom the refund has erroneously been made, as the case may be, shall pay the deficiency or repay the amount paid to him in excess, on demand being made by the Director-General within 12 months from the date on which the deficient film-hire duty was paid or the refund was made, as the case may be, without prejudice to any other remedy for the recovery of the amount due.

Notwithstanding the provisions of any other written law, the film-hire duty payable under this Act shall not be deducted as an outgoing or expense for the purpose of ascertaining the income of a person for the purposes of the Income Tax Act (Cap. 134).