GST Council recommends taxing foreign online gaming, excludes it from OIDAR services

It specifically introduces rules for taxing online money gaming supplied by foreign entities to people in India and adjusts how Integrated GST is collected on certain imported goods.

Who it concerns: Suppliers of online money gaming (including those located outside India), suppliers of goods to unregistered persons, importers of goods notified by the Government, and the Central Government and GST Council.

What the bill does

• Excludes 'online money gaming' from the definition of Online Information and Data Access or Retrieval (OIDAR) services.
• Allows the Government to notify specific goods for which Integrated GST is levied as an inter-State supply rather than through customs duties.
• Specifies that for supplies of goods to unregistered persons, the place of supply is the address recorded in the invoice, or the supplier's location if no address is recorded.
• Inserts a new Section 14A requiring foreign suppliers of online money gaming to obtain a single registration under the Simplified Registration Scheme and pay Integrated GST.
• Mandates that foreign suppliers without a physical presence or representative in India must appoint a person in India to pay the tax on their behalf.
• Provides for the blocking of access to computer resources used by non-compliant foreign online money gaming suppliers, overriding certain provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

Also in the document

• The Bill is based on recommendations from the 50th and 51st meetings of the GST Council.
• It includes a penalty mechanism involving the blocking of digital access for non-compliance with tax registration and payment requirements.
• The Bill does not involve any recurring or non-recurring expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India.