The GST Council on Wednesday deferred the proposal to levy 28 per cent tax on casinos, online gaming, casinos and lottery, as the GST Council has given time till July 15 to the group of ministers (GoM) to re-examine the issues and submit its fresh report.
The two-day 47th meeting of the GST Council took place on Tuesday and Wednesday in Chandigarh and the final decision of the Council was announced on Wednesday.
The panel had recommended that online gaming should be taxed at the full value of the consideration, including the contest entry fee paid by the player on participating in the game. In cases of race courses, the GoM recommended that GST be levied on the full value of bets pooled in the totalisators and placed with the bookmakers.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said it has the Council was of the prima-facie view that the common thread connecting them is that these activities are in nature of “gambling” and should be taxed accordingly.
She added that the Goa chief minister said casino should be treated differently than the other activities — horse racing, online gaming and lottery. The finance minister added that the GoM has been given time till July 15 to study and submit a fresh report. The Council will meet in the first week of August exclusively to discuss the fresh report of GoM and a final decision will be taken.
The GoM had recommended that no distinction should be made on grounds of game of skill or game of chance for the purpose of the levy of GST. The panel added that the rate of GST on all such activities should be 28 per cent.
On the valuation, GoM said in the case of online gaming, it should be full value of consideration, including contest entry fee, paid by the player for participation; in the case of race courses, it should be full value of bets pooled in the totalisator and placed with bookmakers. It also said that for the valuation for casinos, it should be full face value of chips/ coins purchased from casino by a player.
It added that once GST is levied on purchase of chips/coins (on face value), no further GST should apply to the value of bets placed in each round of betting including those played with winnings of previous rounds. Entry fee to casinos, including the price of one or more other supplies such as food, beverages, etc., will be at 28 per cent.
However, according to sources, the GST Council has decided to accept the recommendations of three groups of ministers (GoMs) constituted on rate rationalisation, GST system reforms, and the movement of gold and precious stones.
The GST Council has accepted the interim report of the GoM on Rate Rationalisation, according to the sources. The group of ministers was constituted in September last year and was headed by Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj S Bommai. Among others, the Council has accepted the GoM’s view to withdraw GST exemption on packaged curd, lassi, buttermilk, puffed rice, flattened rice, parched rice, pappad, paneer, honey, food grains, cereals, jaggery and certain vegetables, they added.
The Council has agreed and accepted to adopt the GoM’s Report On GST System Reforms, the sources told CNBC-TV18. The GoM was constituted in September last year under the convenorship of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.
It has also accepted the recommendations of the GoM constituted on the e-way bill generation for gold/ gold jewellery and precious stones, the sources said. It was constituted in February this year with Kerala Finance Minister K N Balagopal as its convenor. It recommendations included allowing states to impose the requirement of e-way bill for intra-state movement of gold/ precious stones, if they so want.
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