The Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will preside over the 50th GST Council Meeting, which is most likely to take place somewhere around the end of June 2023. The final dates have not been announced yet. However, there are talks about the meeting being held in June as most states would have finished the budget-making process by then.

In the upcoming GST council meeting, the long pending issue of taxing online gambling, horse racing, and casinos is expected to be taken up. During the Covid-19 lockdowns, the internet gaming industry experienced enormous expansion, and this development has persisted ever since. The industry is expected to grow in size from Rs. 13,600 crores in 2021 to Rs. 29,000 crores by 2024–25, according to a KPMG analysis.

At the ministerial level, the council is now looking into issues related to online gaming and also managing its taxation and regulation. “Once the policy certainty arrives, taxation becomes more clear, it will attract investors,” the finance minister said while addressing the Indian diaspora in Seoul recently.

Currently, there is a 28% GST imposed on all actionable claims involving betting and gambling, including those related to online gaming. The GST Act does not differentiate between games of skill and games of chance when determining the levy.

Additionally, the process of setting up the GST Appellate Tribunal would have advanced significantly, and hopefully, the states would be able to propose the establishment of benches in their regions.

Talking about the GST Rate revisions, since the tax system has essentially stabilized, sources state that a significant revision to the GST rates and slabs is unlikely at this time. However, it’s likely that proposals of rate revisions for millets and cement as well as the compensation cess on pan masala could be discussed.

The inverted duty structure (greater duty on raw materials and other inputs and lower duty on final product) has not been given a timetable for correction yet.

You can read the highlights of the 49th GST Council Meeting here. We will update this page with the highlights of the upcoming 50th GST Council Meeting soon. So, stay tuned!

You can find the highlights of the past GST council meetings here –

• 48th GST Council Meeting
• 47th GST Council Meeting
• 46th GST Council Meeting
• 45th GST Council Meeting
• 44th GST Council Meeting
• 43rd GST Council Meeting
• 42nd GST Council Meeting
• 41st GST Council Meeting
• 40th GST Council Meeting

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