50th GST Council meet to be held tomorrow; taxation on online gaming may be taken up

New Delhi, [India], July 10 : The 50th meeting of the GST Council is set to be held on Tuesday here in the national capital. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who heads the Council, will chair the meeting.

Sources toldthat the Group of Ministers (GoM) report on online gaming, casino and horse racing along with proposed taxation around is expected to be up for deliberations. So far, the sources added there has been no consensus among the GoM members for taxing online gaming at a flat 28 per cent.

Besides online gaming, the Council is also expected to discuss and finalise the constitution of a GST Tribunal and its benches. The rules and regulations related to tribunals may also be finalised tomorrow, the sources added.

The 49th meeting of the Council was held on February 18, 2023. The meeting took several decisions including adopting the report of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on the GST Appellate Tribunal with certain modifications.

The 48th Meeting of the GST Council was held on December 17, 2022, through video conferencing.

Goods and Services Tax was introduced in the country with effect from July 1, 2017, and states were assured compensation for loss of any revenue arising on account of its implementation as per the provisions of the GST (Compensation to States) Act, 2017 for a period of five years.

For providing compensation to States, Cess was being levied on certain goods and the amount of Cess collected was being credited to Compensation Fund. The compensation to States was being paid out of the Compensation Fund with effect from July 1, 2017.