‘Recovery of tax dues from gaming firms after SC order’
NEW DELHI : Goods and services tax (GST) authorities will attempt to recover the tax demands made to a few online gaming platforms, including Gameskraft Technologies Pvt. Ltd only after the Supreme Court (SC) gives its final verdict on the tax dispute, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) chairperson Vivek Johri said in an interview. The GST Council’s decision to clarify that online gaming platforms attract 28% GST seeks to make clear the legislative intent of the tax regime applying to these entities, Johri said.
CBIC has referred around two dozen chartered accountants to the self-regulator of the accounting profession, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), for disciplinary action for their alleged involvement in the registration of fake entities to deal in bogus input tax credit, Johri said. The official also explained that the GST Council would further look into clarifying the taxability of sedans, which otherwise meet the criteria of vehicles in the 22% cess bracket, although they are not referred to as utility vehicles. Edited excerpts: Look, there are two parts to this.
The amendment, which the GST Council has approved, makes our intention, which was always there, abundantly clear because the entry in question in Schedule 3 (of Central and State GST laws) did not specifically refer to online gaming, horse racing, to casinos. There was a doubt raised whether these activities are covered by that entry or not. The online gaming industry, in particular, had made out a case that the entry applies only to actionable claims that are generated in betting and gambling.
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