The Supreme Court adjourned petitions challenging the imposition of 28 per cent Goods and Services Tax (GST) on e-gaming firms to July 31.
The petitions were transferred from nine high courts for an authoritative pronouncement by the apex court.
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said that the cases would be listed on July 31 only for further directions and would likely be heard on a subsequent date. The court also directed that written submissions by parties in the case should be put before the court before the said date.
The Supreme Court had on January 8 issued notice to the Centre on petitions filed by the E-gaming Federation and others against the levy of 28 per cent GST.
The GST Council had, in one of its meetings in July 2023, recommended that online gaming, along with casinos and horse racing, should be taxed at a uniform rate. It had decided against having any distinction between ‘games of skill’ and ‘games of chance’.
Thirty petitions have been filed by real-money gaming companies challenging a demand for over Rs 1.5 lakh crore, calculated at 28 per cent on the face value of bets.
Of these, 27 pleas have been transferred to the Supreme Court from various high courts. The original petition was filed by Head Digital, Play Games24x7, and Baazi Games, while one plea by the GST department challenges a Karnataka High Court verdict.
Last year in September, the Supreme Court stayed Karnataka High Court’s judgment, which quashed a GST notice against online gaming company Gameskraft Technology for alleged tax evasion to the tune of Rs 21,000 crore.
As many as 71 show cause notices have been issued to online gaming companies for alleged GST evasion of over Rs 1.12 lakh crore during financial years 2022-23 and 2023-24, the finance ministry had said last year in December. The total GST evasion detected by central GST officers till October 2023 was Rs 1.51 lakh crore.
The online gaming companies have been approaching high courts against such GST demands, contesting the claims of revenue authorities. They claimed they were paying taxes at the rate of 18 per cent as the games played on the platform were ‘games of skill’.
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud stated earlier this year that rather than having different high courts hear the same issue and potentially deliver conflicting judgments, it would be more effective for the Supreme Court to hear the case and provide an authoritative ruling.
The Centre had also requested the transfer of the petitions from the high courts to the Supreme Court.
First Published: Jul 18 2024 | 6:29 PM IST
