Group of Ministers to recommend 28% GST on casinos, racecourses, online gaming | Exclusive
India Today
The Group of Ministers set up by the finance ministry to look into GST rates on casinos, online gaming and racecourses met on Monday and reached the consensus that these should be taxed under the 28 per cent tax slab, as per sources.
The Group of Ministers (GoM) set up by the Union Ministry of Finance to look into matters related to the GST regime covering casinos, racecourses and online gaming met on Monday in Delhi.
At the meet, the group reached a broad consensus as per sources and is likely to recommend that casinos, racecourses and online gaming be taxed under the 28 per cent GST slab. The group will meet again on May 18 to finalise the valuation method for taxation on various activities and services.
According to sources, the group’s convenor Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma has asked all members to come to the next meeting with relevant data so that a recommendation backed by logic can be formulated. The group’s recommendations are likely to be taken up at the next meeting of the GST council for final approval.
We have been able to make significant progress on rate concerns, valuation issues on which the rate should be applied, and certain aspects of online gaming were thoroughly reviewed. There are a few more technical details to go over,” Sangma said after the meet on Monday.
The other members of the group include Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, West Bengal finance minister Chandrima Bhattacharya, Gujarat finance minister Kanubhai Patel, Goa Minister for Panchayat Raj Mauvin Godinho, Tamil Nadu finance minister Palanivel Thiaga Ragan, Uttar Pradesh finance minister Suresh Kumar Khanna and Telangana finance minister Thanneeru Harish Rao.
The mandate of the GoM includes examining the valuation of services provided by casinos, race courses and online gaming websites, along with taxability of certain transactions in a casino.
While Sangma refused to divulge the details of the meeting, another member said that the members submitted their suggestions on the tax bracket and there was a convergence on according the highest GST slab to casinos, race courses and online gaming.
