According to sources, the Central Government is considering filing an appeal before the Supreme Court of India against the decision of the Karnataka High Court quashing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) notice of Rs. 21,000 on Gameskraft.
Gameskraft is a Karnataka based online gaming platform, received a notice from the Directorate general of Goods and Services Tax (GST) Intelligence raising demand of Rs. 21,000 crores, was challenged before the High Court of Karnataka. As per reports, the GST intelligence has claimed that the platform is used for gambling.
Read More: Gameskraft Challenges GST demand of Rs. 21,000 Crores
In its appeal to the Karnataka High Court, Gameskraft claimed that the tax authority did not distinguish between games of skill and chance because it had already paid more than Rs 1,500 crore in GST. Further, the Single Bench of Justice S R Krishna Kumar quashed the impugned Goods and Services Tax (GST) Show-Cause Notice (SCN) against Gameskraft.
Read More: GST on Online Gaming: Karnataka HC quashes SCN of Rs. 21000 Crores against Gameskraft
Recently, a notice for a Rs. 1500 crore tax evasion was published by the Haryana Excise and Goods and Services Tax (GST) department. According to GST Intelligence, the company was misclassifying its operations in order to evade paying taxes. By paying GST at a rate of 18%, the company was able to avoid paying 1,500 crore in taxes.
Read More: Excise and Taxation Dept of Haryana Issues SCN to Online Betting Company for Rs. 1500 crores Tax Evasion
Vikas Taneja, Prithvi Raj Singh, and Gameskraft have filed caveats in the Supreme Court shortly after the ruling of the Karnataka High Court through the law office PLR Chambers.
It is anticipated that the GST Council would clarify the tax rates for online gambling at its upcoming meeting. It is expected that the report from the Group of Ministers on online gambling, horse racing, and casinos will be delivered, and hopefully accepted.
Additionally, the online gaming industry now feels confident that the government will continue to impose an 18% GST rather than a 28% tax on gross gaming revenue thanks to the modified Finance Act of 2023 and IT Intermediary Amendment Rules.
Read More: GST Council to Meet Next Month: Cement Tax and Online Gaming on Agenda
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