GST Council decides to impose 28% tax on turnover of online gaming firms

The all-powerful Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council on Tuesday decided to impose a 28 per cent tax on the turnover of online gaming companies, horse racing and casinos, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.

The panel, headed by the Union finance minister and comprising of representatives of all states and UTs, decided on tax rate based on recommendation of a group of ministers that looked at taxing casinos, horse racing and online gaming.

The issue before the GoM (group of ministers) was whether to impose a 28 per cent GST on the face value of bets, or gross gaming revenue, or just on platform fees.

Sitharaman said the tax will be levied on the entire value.

The tax on online gaming companies would be imposed without making any differentiation based on whether the games required skill or were based on chance.

The GST Council also decided to exempt cancer fighting drugs and medicines for rare diseases from the levy, she said.

Also, GST on satellite launch services provided by private operators has been exempted, she added.