Despite having a pure Tamil title and getting a clean chit from Censor Board, Ilayathalapathy Vijay's 'Puli' did not get the Tamil Nadu Government's Entertainment Tax Exemption which means 30% of the revenue generated by the film should be paid to the Government as Tax.

The panel appointed by the Tamil Nadu Government has rejected the eligibility for Tax exemption for the film, citing various reasons and the members have unanimously advised the Government to not give exemption for the film.

Some of the main reasons cited are that the film has so many violent scenes and depictions of children and women being killed. Some members have objected to the romance scenes in the film as being obscene with excessive glamour the others have said that the film is completely devoid of glamour and obscenity and have objected only to the depiction of violence. A member has also stated that the Chimbudevan directed film includes scenes of irrational beliefs that goes against Tamil culture.