GST On Casinos, Horse Racing, Online Gaming: GoM Fails To Reach Consensus

The special Group of Ministers met virtually on Tuesday to finalise the mechanism of levying Goods and Services Tax on casinos, horse racing, and online gaming but failed to reach any consensus.

A uniform 28% rate is expected to be levied on all three sectors, while the final valuation mechanism remains undecided.

Member states reiterated their stand on the valuation mechanism and no consensus was attained with respect to taxing casinos, Chandrima Bhattacharya, West Bengal's Minister of State for Finance, told BQ Prime.

West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh have proposed for the total bet value to be the point of taxation, she said.

However, Goa has proposed an entry-point valuation mechanism for the chips purchased.

The respective member states will send their individual recommendations to create the final report before the next GST Council meeting, Bhattacharya said.

No differential rate will be levied for online gaming based on games of skill and games of chance, according to Bhattacharya, who referred to the Karnataka Court judgment as a reference.

As for horse racing, 28% GST is expected to be calculated on the full value of bets placed with the bookmaker.