An amendment to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Act by the cabinet of the Indian state of Goa could take the gambling sector off the hook for huge tax bills it has been assessed with since October of last year, Asian Gaming Brief reported January 26.
The bill will be introduced during the new budget session of the Goa assembly.
The cabinet repealed the Goa Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Ordinance of 2023 and substituted the Goa Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Act of 2024.
The latter came into force last October, and has since then created chaos in the gaming sector.
The new ordinance clarifies how horse racing, casinos and other forms of wagering, are taxed. While clarifying how such activities are taxed, it does not affect state laws that regulate or even ban such activities.
It also includes definitions for what is “online gaming,” “virtual digital asset” and “online money gaming.”
