The Group of Ministers constituted to consider taxing online gaming and casinos submitted its report to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday. The group has been constituted by the GST Council.
Image Credit source: Representational Image
The Group of Ministers constituted to consider taxing online gaming and casinos submitted its report to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday. The group has been constituted by the GST Council. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, headed by Sitharaman, is likely to consider the report in its meeting to be held on Saturday. Meghalaya Chief Minister Konrad Sangma, Chairman of the Group of Ministers (GoM), wrote on Twitter that the second report of the GoM on Online Gaming, Casino and Horse Riding has been submitted to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today.
GST Council will consider
Usually, before presenting any agenda, the GST Council Secretariat gives notice to the council members about it. Discussion on online gaming was not included in the agenda of the council meeting till now.
Now that the report has been given, it is likely that the Council will consider it. The GoM in its last meeting in November had agreed to levy 28 per cent GST on online gaming, casino and horse riding.
How much GST is charged now?
However, there was no consensus on whether the tax should be levied only on the portal fee or on the entire amount, including the amount received from participants for placing bets. The GoM had decided to send all the suggestions to the GST Council for a final decision.
Currently online gaming attracts 18 per cent GST. The tax is levied on the total gaming income. This is the fee charged by the online gaming portal.
If we talk about the business of online gaming, then the global market of online gaming was $ 37.65 billion in the year 2019 and now many reports are claiming that it is expected to be US $ 122.05 billion in 2025. At the same time, the online gaming industry in India was worth $543 million in 2016 and then in 2020, it has increased by 18.6 percent. Along with this, it is increasing continuously and by 2022 it is estimated to be up to 510 million. In this, it is expected to reach US $ 2 billion in 2023.
(with language input)
: Language Inputs
