GST from online gaming has seen a four-fold jump post-October 2023, with average of Rs 1,100 crore per month: CBIC chief

Revenue from the 28% goods and services tax on online gaming has risen four-fold to an average of Rs 1,100 crore per month, said Sanjay Kumar Agarwal is Chairman, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs and questioned if there is a need to review the tax.
 
“Is there any need to take up a review? The revenue which is coming from this sector is good. Prior to October 2023, the GST collection from online gaming was on the lines of Rs 250 crore a month. After the new tax rate, it has been consistently above Rs 1,100 crore per month, and for a few months, it has crossed Rs 1,300 crore. So it is a four-fold jump,” the CBIC Chairman told BT in response to a question on whether the tax on the sector will be reviewed.
 
He also highlighted that field formations have not come across any issues during the implementation of the tax. “So, I don't know when a person is healthy whether there is any need to go to doctors,” he said, noting that the industry is surviving and the customer does not feel the impact of the tax as it is levied on the prize money.
 
The CBIC Chairman also said that while the 28% tax on the sector is prospective in nature, notices for past payments of tax is subjudice and with the Supreme Court.
 
The online gaming, casinos and horse racing sector has been awaiting a review of the 28% GST, which came into effect from October last year. The GST Council had said it would review the tax after six months but it was not taken up in the last meeting in June.
 
Meanwhile, the CBIC Chairman also said that a Group of Ministers under the GST Council is undertaking a review of the rate structure and a possible rationalisation of the rates. “They are working on it and they will try to do it quickly because that is the ask now as GST has stabilised. The tax regime is seven years old now and the revenue is also good. Now there is need for this kind of reforms,” he said.
 
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had in the Union Budget 2024-25 announced that efforts would be made to further simplify and rationalise the GST structure and expand it to the remaining sectors.
 
He also expressed hope that the GST Appellate Tribunal will start functioning well before the end of the current financial year. The process for setting up the infrastructure and appointing members is underway.