These discussions will now translate into action, with the Union Cabinet’s clearance for an amendment Bill on the subject heightening the urgency, a GST official privy to the discussions told ET.
The GST Council, at its meeting on July 11, decided to tax online gaming, racecourse and casinos at 28% on the full-face value of bets, and amend the law accordingly. At another meeting on August 2, the council decided to complete the process of amendments at the earliest and give effect to them from October 1.
“We are aligned with the Government of India on this,” Karnataka revenue minister Krishna Byre Gowda, who is a member of the council, told ET on Thursday. “I think most states will take the Ordinance route.”
The central government, he said, was very clear that states speed up the amendment process even if it meant amending the law by way of an Ordinance. “That, I think, is also a message for the states. There is also a revenue potential,” he said.
A senior GST official working in a southern state told ET on the condition of anonymity that the GST commissioners of a few states have been talking about requesting their finance departments to amend state GST laws by an Ordinance in cases where the legislatures are not meeting anytime soon.
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Another GST official from a southern state said the finance department of his state will now start moving on the subject, as the Union Cabinet has cleared the GST rate amendment for placing it before Parliament.Amendments by states and the Centre, and the subsequent levy, will help state tax authorities to raise a fresh round of claims from the companies operating online gaming platforms, as well as those engaged in horseracing and the casino business.
Several states are staring at a funds shortage to implement their welfare programmes, and top officials of some of these states are keen to collect the increased taxes this fiscal year itself. Also, there is not much time left to do so in Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Mizoram which are set to face assembly polls this year.
The online gaming industry, meanwhile, has been claiming that a 28% GST on the full face value could wipe out the industry and jobs.
