Parliament cleared two vital money Bills on Friday, paving the way for the implementation of a 28 per cent goods and services tax (GST) on online money gaming, casinos, and horse racing clubs on the full face value of entry-level bets.
The proposed legislation differentiates between online gaming and online money gaming, and introduces provisions for the enforcement of the tax on offshore gaming operators by making GST registration “mandatory”.
According to the Bills, which were moved by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, suppliers of online money gaming located abroad must take single registration in India through a simplified scheme. If there is a failure to comply with the registration and payment of tax, access will be blocked to “any information generated, transmitted, received or hosted” in any computer resource used.
If the supplier of such services doesn’t have a physical presence or a representative in the taxable territory, a person must be appointed to pay integrated GST on behalf of the platform, the proposed legislation said.
The passage of both money Bills — the Central Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2023, and the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2023, — are in line with the decision of the GST Council, to implement the new tax laws from October 1. States also have to clear changes to state GST laws in this regard.
Additionally, the Bills provide clear definitions of online gaming, online money gaming, supplier, and specific actionable claims to clarify the taxability of these activities.
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