Insights

India: Updates from the 50th GST Council Meeting Regarding the Online Gaming Industry

Rohit Jain 28 Jul 2023

Key recommendations of the 50th GST council meeting regarding the online gaming industry

Rohit Jain, Vivek Baj, and Aayush Tiwari, of our Indian firm, Economic Laws Practice, summarise the recommendations and announcements resulting from the 50th Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council Meeting, which was held on July 11, 2023, including:

• A circular clarifying the ISD mechanism.
• Recommendation of a GST Appellate Tribunal.
• A new tax on Casinos, horse racing and online gaming at the uniform rate of 28%, included in Schedule III of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.
• Announcement that services supplied in the capacity of a director of a company or body corporate shall be taxable.
• That the supply of food and beverages in cinema halls is to be taxable as a restaurant service.

Read the full newsletter here.

Implementation of 28% GST rate will bring challenges to online gaming industry

Meanwhile, Adarsh Somani, a partner at Economic Laws Practice, Taxand India, focuses in on the GST Council’s introduction of a 28% tax on the turnover of online gaming, horse racing, and casinos within an article published in Live Mint.

Somani argues the proposal would need significant legislative amendments, citing legislative challenges, and lack of rationale, comparing the tax to that levied on cigarettes and alcohol, representing a ‘new low made in GST’s history without a thought to how businesses would survive it.’

Read the full article here.