The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council will probably hold its next meeting in June when the long forthcoming issue of taxation of online gaming will be taken up.

While no particular date has been chosen at this point, official sources showed that June is the most probable time for holding the following meeting of the Council as by then most states would have finished their budget plan-making process. Further, there would likewise have been critical progress in setting up the GST Appellate Tribunal and states would be in a situation to propose setting up of benches in their jurisdictions.

Authorities have likewise demonstrated that a revision in the rates and slabs of GST is far-fetched at this point bringing up that the tax regime has pretty much balanced out. “There will continue to be revisions and review in the rate of specific items as and when required and to clear confusion but a full-fledged overhaul of the rate structure is not being planned for now,” the official source said.

“We expect the next meeting of the GST Council to be held in June when the report of the Group of Ministers on GST on online gaming will also be taken up for discussion and hopefully for approval,” said an official source, adding that it is normal that the issue is probably going to be tended to without the requirement for voting by the Council.

The report was not taken up at the 49th meeting of the GST Council held in February as the seat of the chair of the GoM and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma couldn’t go to the meeting because of continuous races in the district. Be that as it may, there was no agreement on how to tax online games and whether to think about them as a game of skill or a game of chance and in like manner, it will require point-by-point discussion in the GoM.

As of now, actionable claims in the form of pay-to-earn include those emerging from online gaming draw in 28% GST and the GST Act doesn’t make the duty reliant upon whether it is a skill or chance-based game.

Credit: Financial Express