Your Daily Asia Gaming eBrief: India's GST headache

Monday 4th of July 2022

Good Morning. India’s skill-based online gaming industry is on tenterhooks over a proposal to hike the general sales tax to 28 percent of the total face value bet. The GST Council met on June 29th to discuss the issue and has deferred for another 15 days to allow more time for consideration. Igaming consultant Jaydeep Chakravartty writes that implementing the proposal as it stands would be catastrophic for the nascent industry. India is projected to be one of the largest online gaming markets in the world and this risks nipping any growth in the bud.

What you need to know

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On the radar

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AGB Intelligence

DEEP DIVE

India online market faces potentially “catastrophic” GST hike

India is mulling a proposal to hike the Goods and Services Tax on online gaming from 18 percent to 28 percent in a move that would be catastrophic for the emerging industry, writes Jaydeep Chakravartty. The GST Council met on Wednesday, 29 June to discuss the proposal but deferred the decision for a further 15 days. The same tax rate would also apply to casinos and betting on horse racing. The main issue is that the proposal on the table is to levy the tax on the entire contest entry amount rather than gross gambling revenue. This would nip the potential of the entire industry in the bud, making businesses unviable.