The Union Finance Minister Nirmala SItharaman on 9th of September, 2024 held the 54th GST Council Meeting under her chairmanship, which consisted of state finance ministers.
According to the minister, in the meeting, the Group of Ministers (GoM) presented detailed reports regarding the status of real estate and online gaming in the country. The report included GST revenue collection from the online gaming sector pre and post of October 1st, 2023.
The Finance Minister revealed in the press meet held after the GST council meeting that the revenue from online gaming jumped by 412% to Rs. 6,909 crore in just six months. It was also revealed that the revenue generated from casinos also significantly increased by 30%. This, notably, is after the implementation of the 28% GST on both skill based and chance based online games.
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Previously, the GST Council in its meeting in August 2023 made it clear that online gaming platforms are required to pay 28% GST later on the Central GST law was amended to clarify the pertaining taxation provision. The council went ahead and decided that this is to be reviewed after six months of implementation.
As of October 1, 2023, a GST of 28% was levied on entry level bets put on online gambling platforms and casinos. However, several online gambling companies refused to pay the 28% GST, arguing there were different tax rates for games of skill vs games of chance.
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Globally, India holds the second largest market in online gaming . This market is estimated to grow up to 5 billion USD by 2025 at a steady CAGR rate of 28-30%. Currently, the number of online gaming consumers in the country is approximately around 442 million, and this is estimated to significantly increase up to 500 million by 2025.
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