28% GST on online gaming from Oct 1

The Goods and Services Tax Council on Wednesday decided to implement its July 11 decision of levying 28% GST on the full-face value of bets in casinos, race courses and online games from October 1, post necessary legislative changes, and agreed to review the impact of the move, particularly on revenues from casinos for smaller states like Goa and Sikkim, after six months.

- Rajeev Jayaswal

The Council, an empowered federal body on indirect tax, has also decided to make it mandatory for overseas online gaming platforms to register in India and comply to the Indian tax laws to avoid being blocked.

Briefing media after the 51st Council's meeting, Union finance ministry and chairperson of the federal body Nirmala Sitharaman said while some states such as Delhi, Goa and Sikkim have urged to review the 50th Council decision (taken on July 11) of levying 28% GST on face value on the three types of bets, several states such as Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Karnataka, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat asked to implement the July 11 decision "at the earliest" after having spent about three years of deliberations on this matter.