GST Council meet today: Here is what to expect
indirect tax body, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, will on Wednesday finalize the fine print of the indirect tax regime covering online gaming, casinos and horse racing and put in place ways to check any tax evasion. Mint takes a look at what to expect and why online gaming platforms are up in arms. The GST Council, led by union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, will meet virtually to discuss and approve the amendments to Central GST (CGST) Act and the respective state GST (SGST) laws to give effect to the decision taken at its meeting last month regarding taxation of online gaming, casinos and horse racing.
The Council had decided to implement 28% tax on the full face value of online gaming bets, bringing the taxation regime on a par with casinos and horse racing. The language of the legislative changes has to be cleared by the Council. The nature of the amendments are broadly clarificatory in nature explaining that the intent of the law has always been to levy 28% tax on these sectors.
Gaming platforms, however, have been lobbying for a rethink on the decision. But as of now, there is no rethink being considered by the government. To be sure, GST, being an indirect tax is levied on the full value of any transaction, unless any abatement is provided for to account for any non-taxable item included in the value.
Legislative changes are expected to bring certainty to the taxation of these industries on the rate of tax and the base on which tax rate has to be applied. Many online gaming companies, according to government officials, have been paying 18% GST on their margins, also called the gross gaming revenue, while the GST Council's decision is to levy 28% on the full face value of bets. Earlier, the Council
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