The GST Council, in its 50th meeting, has announced that casinos, race courses, and online gaming will be taxed at a uniform rate of 28%. This comes after the Group of Ministers (GoM) submitted a new report after relooking the issues that were placed in its 47th GST Council meeting.
The GoM had been tasked with looking into the taxation of these activities, and their report recommended that they be taxed at a rate of 28% on the full-face value of bets placed. The GST Council has accepted this recommendation, and the new taxes will come into effect soon.
The administration has also stated that changes to the law will be made to include internet gaming and horse racing as taxable actionable claims. They will be added to the lottery, betting, and gaming. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the decision to tax these activities was not based on whether they are skill-based or chance-based. "We are purely looking at that which is being taxed," she said.
The taxation of these activities has been a long-standing issue, with the government facing pressure from both the industry and the public to bring them under the GST regime. The new taxes are expected to generate significant revenue for the government, and they will also help to regulate these activities and ensure that they are conducted in a fair and transparent manner.
"There will be some amendment to the GST law to include online gaming in it. And simply put, online gaming, casinos and horse racing will be taxed. They will be taxed at 28% and they will be taxed on their full face value," Sitharaman said in a press conference after the meeting.
When asked if the move will kill the online gaming industry, Sitharaman added, "There was a detailed discussion on this. Our agenda is not to kill an industry. All sorts of businesses have to be kept alive. Casinos in Goa and Sikkim yield a lot of revenue for the two small states. It is not so much our position, every state felt it."