India Makes Changes to Gambling Taxes

#BettingLegislation  #GambleLike_India 

The Indian government has announced a major change in the gambling taxes, so casinos will soon be obliged to pay a turnover tax of 28%. This new taxation rule has not taken effect, but all necessary preparations are already in place.

The taxation rate of 28% for turnover will impact all types of gambling in India, including online games, land-based casinos, and horse race betting. 

This change was announced by India’s Goods and Council Tax Council (GST) at its 50th GST Council meeting. The tax should be turnover-based, so it will be applied to the full value of the bet. Thus, a gambling destination should pay Rs28 in tax for every Rs100 spent by a player. For online gambling, it will be determined by the total value of bets placed at a gaming venue, while land-based casinos will pay taxes based on the sum paid by players for bought chips. 

AIGF Reaction

Those new taxation norms have already faced criticism from the All India Gaming Federation (AIGF). It claims that such a percentage of turnover-based tax will deteriorate the gaming industry in the country, as gambling venues will pay higher taxes than their actual revenue. 

This tax will make it harder for the gaming businesses to survive, and, as a result of this, many Indian players can opt for online operators that are operated by other jurisdictions.

OTHER RECENT CHANGES IN INDIAN GAMBLING

Gambling was illegal in India for a long time, and the country started working toward a regulated gambling market just recently. On April 06, 2023 “The Information Technology Rules” came into effect, and it touches the matters of regulation of online gambling services in the country. 

Moreover, self-regulatory bodies should be created in this recently emerged market to tackle the way land-based and online gambling destinations operate in India. Those bodies will mainly focus on the matters of responsible and healthy gambling. Thus, each of them should include the following members: a public policy expert who represents the government, representatives of players and industry, and a psychology expert. 

If such a self-regulatory body is non-compliant, the government can suspend it from working in the industry. 

The introduction of changes in gambling rules to enhance responsible gaming has become the main concern worldwide, so many countries facilitate their laws. Australia is one of them, and it announced the ban on credit cards in online gambling, which should be introduced by the end of 2023.