Online gaming: States mull Ordinance to mop up revenue from 28% GST

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Ordinance route to amend their local GST laws to start taxing casinos, racecourse and online gaming at 28% at the earliest, instead of waiting for clearance from legislatures that is more time-consuming. These discussions will now translate into action, with the Union Cabinet’s clearance for an amendment Bill on the subject heightening the urgency, a GST official privy to the discussions told ET. The GST Council, at its meeting on July 11, decided to tax online gaming, racecourse and casinos at 28% on the full-face value of bets, and amend the law accordingly.

At another meeting on August 2, the council decided to complete the process of amendments at the earliest and give effect to them from October 1. “We are aligned with the Government of India on this,” Karnataka revenue minister Krishna Byre Gowda, who is a member of the council, told ET on Thursday. “I think most states will take the Ordinance route.” The central government, he said, was very clear that states speed up the amendment process even if it meant amending the law by way of an Ordinance.

“That, I think, is also a message for the states. There is also a revenue potential,” he said. A senior GST official working in a southern state told ET on the condition of anonymity that the GST commissioners of a few states have been talking about requesting their finance departments to amend state GST laws by an Ordinance in cases where the legislatures are not meeting anytime soon.