28% GST on online gaming to yield Rs 20,000 cr annually: Revenue Secretary

The exchequer would get an estimated additional revenue of Rs 20,000 crore annually following the decision of the GST Council to levy 28 per cent tax on full bet value on online gaming, said Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra on Thursday.

The GST Council has unanimously decided to impose 28 per cent tax on online gaming, casino and horse racing etc, he said adding that the government will pursue all cases in the Supreme Court for recovery of erstwhile tax demands.

He said the online gaming industry is currently paying only 2-3 per cent GST which is even less than 5 per cent tax applicable on food items consumed by a common man.

"One of the members, in fact, in the GST Council pointed out that the way the online gaming companies are paying the taxes on online games at 18 per cent of GGR, which works out to only about 2-3 per cent, even lower than the tax rate of 5 per cent levied on many of the food products consumed by the very common people," Malhotra told.