Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meeting will be held on June 22 under the chairmanship of. In this, the 28 percent tax on the online gaming industry can be reviewed. Experts say that the online gaming industry can be given relief from heavy tax. The GST Council Secretariat wrote on the social media platform ‘X’, ‘The 53rd meeting of the GST Council will be held on June 22, 2024 in New Delhi.’ The last meeting of the Council was held on October 7, 2023, in which the Finance Ministers of all the states and union territories participated. The agenda of the meeting has not yet been informed to the members of the Council. This will be the first meeting of the Council after the Lok Sabha elections. The GST Council may review the decision to impose 28 percent GST on the full value of bets for online gaming companies. This tax came into effect from October 1, 2023. In its meetings in July and August, the GST Council approved amendments to the law to include online gaming, casinos and horse racing as taxable claims (bets).
The review was to be done after six months
It was also clarified that in case of such supplies, the entire bet value would be taxed at 28 per cent. It was said at that time that the implementation would be reviewed after six months i.e. in April, 2024. Since there has been no meeting of the GST Council since April, the council is expected to review the taxation of the online gaming sector in its meeting on June 22. Another important pending issue before the GST Council is rationalisation of rates and a committee headed by Uttar Pradesh Finance Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna has been empowered to make suggestions for rationalising the required rates.
Five Tax Slabs under GST
The GST Council may decide to expedite the process and set a deadline for submission of the final report by the committee in its June 22 meeting. The GST regime currently has five tax slabs of 0, 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent. Luxury and demerit goods are taxed at a maximum of 28 per cent, in addition to a cess. Deloitte India partner M S Mani said the council will have to discuss the much-awaited rationalisation of rates. “Also, an early attempt to include low-impact petroleum products like natural gas under the ambit of GST will be highly beneficial for business,” he said.
Tax liability may be considered
Abhishek Jain, partner and head (indirect tax), KPMG in India, said several clarifications are being considered before October, including tax liability for the online gaming sector, tax liability of ESOPs, corporate guarantee tax liability. Various rate-related clarifications are also expected due to recent litigation. Rajat Bose, partner, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co, said key industry issues such as taxation on online gaming and review of valuation rules introduced in October 2023 need to be looked into.
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