The next meeting of the Goods and Services Tax Council has been deferred on a likely delay in submission of the group of ministers’ final report on casinos, horse racing and online gaming, according to an official aware of the matter, reported BQ Prime.
The council meeting originally was scheduled in the first half of August in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. The meeting got postponed to last week of August due to Parliament sessions. Now the meeting got tentatively postponed for a second time to September.
The group of ministers (GOM) for casinos, horse racing and online gaming was earlier expected to submit its final report by July 15, but was granted an extension till Aug. 10. Now the news reports indicate that the final submission of the report will be delayed beyond August 10. The report by GOM is one of the main agendas for the next council meeting.
GOM head and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Saturday met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and apprised her about the developments on submission of a final report.
The GOM recently toured Bengaluru and Goa to get views from online gaming and casino sectors respectively. In Bengaluru, the GOM members visited the turf courses to understand the practical aspects.
Met with Hon’ble Union Finance Minister, Smti. @nsitharaman Ji to apprise her about the recent meetings of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on casinos, race courses & online gaming with the concerned stakeholders in Bengaluru and Goa. pic.twitter.com/noCayP6NgL
— Conrad Sangma (@SangmaConrad) August 6, 2022
The GoM, in its first report, submitted in June has recommended that in the case of online gaming, the activities should be taxed at 28% on the full value of the consideration, by whatever name such consideration may be called, including contest entry fee, paid by the player for participation in such games without making a distinction such as games of skill or chance etc.
However, a re-examination was necessitated after Goa in the GST Council raised issues on the valuation of supplies in Goa.