GST Council might Consider Review of Online Gaming Taxation

The GST Council will convene here on June 22nd, with a busy agenda. This will be the first Council meeting following the Lok Sabha elections. The results of the elections were announced on June 4, and Sitharaman was sworn in as a Cabinet member in the new Modi government on June 9.

The GST Council is expected to examine the decision to collect 28 percent GST on the total amount of bets for online gambling enterprises, which went into effect on October 1, 2023.

The GST Council adopted revisions to the law in July and August that included online gambling, casinos, and horse racing as taxable actionable claims, and stated that such supplies would be taxed at 28 percent of the whole bet value.

At the time, it was said that a review of the implementation will be conducted six months later, in April 2024.

Since there has been no GST Council meeting since April, the Council's meeting on June 22 is likely to address the taxes on the online gambling business.

Another significant unresolved issue before the GST Council is rate rationalization and a group led by Uttar Pradesh Finance Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna has been tasked with recommending necessary rate rationalization.

At its June 22 meeting, the GST Council may vote to expedite the process and establish a deadline for the panel to provide a final report.