Kerala FM sees GST council’s decision on online gaming favourable to state

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Kerala’s Finance Minister K N Balagopal recently opined his views on the GST Council’s decision to levy 28% GST on online gaming, casinos and horse racing. Balagopal believes that the decision is favourable to state. He also claims that it happened due to the state taking a strong stance on the issue.

GST Council said that the aforesaid activities will be taxed at gross gaming revenue (GGR). Balagopal revealed that Kerala was also one of the states in favour of GST on the full face value, among others.

“The state’s demand was that the rate should be fixed on the full value,” he said in a statement as quoted by The New Indian Express.

A similar statement was also made by revenue secretary Sanjay Malhotra, who revealed that the government collected Rs 1,700 crore in tax from online gaming last year during an interview. Malhotra also said that with the new taxation policy implemented by the GST Council, the numbers can reach up to 5-10 times higher.

The State Lotteries’ interests will benefit from the judgement. Otherwise, he claimed, a legal challenge to the tax on lotteries would have been made.

According to reports, lottery provides a livelihood to numerous people, making it one of the largest employer in the unorganized sector. The yearly prize distribution is estimated to be around Rs 7,000 crore a year and around Rs 3,500 crores are distributed as agents’ commission.

Balagopal reveals new emblem, logo for State Lotteries Department

Balagopal also revealed new emblem, logo, and advertisements of the State Lotteries Department and informed that the design was made by caricaturist and painter Rethish Ravi and the logo was designed by Satyapal Sreedhar.

As of now, only the online gaming companies seems to disagree with the decision of GST council to levy tax on full face value. The companies have banded together and addressed an open letter to the government asking for reconsideration on the tax rate.

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