The central government is trying to bring some more under the scope of Goods and services Tax (GST). As a part of this, the Union cabinet has approved the bill to levy 28% GST on online gaming as well as casino and horse racing. In the context of the debate on the no-confidence motion in the entire parliament today, the Center is thinking of bringing the money bill to the lok sabha on august 11, the last day of the session.
The Center is looking to bring and pass this bill in the current monsoon sessions of the Parliament. However, approval of the lok sabha is sufficient for money bills, so it seems that passing this bill is not a problem. Moreover, the turnover of thousands of crores of rupees is being done through online gaming, casino and horse racing, so the state governments are also likely to welcome it positively. In this latest bill, it is proposed to apply the tax on the face value of the chips or coins purchased in the case of casinos, on the full value of the bet placed by the bookmaker or totalizer in the case of horse racing, and on the full value of betting in online.
While this proposal was approved in the next meeting of the Council held on august 2, it will be introduced in the lok sabha on august 11. After that, the center aims to ensure that it is implemented from october 1 this year. In this regard, the Council recommended that appropriate amendments be made to the Act to include online gaming and horse racing as taxable transactions in Schedule-3.
In 2022-23, the turnover of the online gaming sector will be Rs. 85 thousand crores. However, last year the government collected only 2% from this sector in the form of betting tax and entertainment tax which is Rs. 1,700 crores in revenue only. At the same time, from casinos Rs. 800 crores, and from horse racing Rupees. 80 crores have been collected.
Now, due to the imposition of 28% GST on these too, the government is likely to generate huge revenue. As a part of this, from online gaming alone, Rs. 15,000 crores to Rs. 20,000 crores is estimated by the Center to generate revenue for the government. Gaming companies in particular are worried that their industry will be severely damaged. In this order, some companies have already announced that they are closing, while others are laying off a large number of employees.
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