GST Council meet: GST relief for Indian online gaming in the offing
GST Council meet: In a sign of potential relief for India’s online gaming industry, the union Finance Ministry has proposed an amendment to the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act, 2017 via the introduction of a new Section 11A in the legislation.
This proposed section empowers the central government to “not recover the GST not levied or short-levied as a result of general practice”.
The proposal is part of the agenda for the upcoming meeting of the federal GST Council that is scheduled to be held on June 22 in New Delhi.
If accepted, the amendment could pave the way for not recovering 28 per cent GST on e-gaming, casinos and horse racing. Industry players have raised concerns over the ambiguous nature of last years’ decision to levy this rate of GST on the sector.
This new provision could offer a safety net by legitimising past practices where GST was not fully applied, thereby preventing retrospective tax demands that could financially cripple e-gaming companies.
