Winning Bizness Desk
Mumbai. A shocking case of GST evasion by gaming companies has come to the fore. Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chowdhary has given this information in the Parliament that from April 2019 to November 2022, gaming companies have stolen GST worth Rs 23000 crore. In a written reply given in the Lok Sabha, he said that the Enforcement Directorate has seized assets worth Rs 1000 crore in connection with cyber and crypto assets frauds and manipulation using online gaming. He informed the House that the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs has started an investigation against online game companies both in India and abroad. The Minister of State for Finance told that from April 2019 to November 2022, there is a case of GST evasion of Rs 22,936 crore.
No info on whether notice issued
When the Minister of State for Finance was asked whether the Income Tax Department has also issued notices to online gaming companies for non-payment of tax, he said that its information is not available. He said that under Section 1961 of Income Tax, there is a ban on disclosing information about a particular taxpayer. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has already asked those earning money by winning in online games to disclose the correct income by filing updated income tax returns and pay tax on it. CBDT Chairman Nitin Gupta had said that a gaming portal has distributed Rs 58,000 crore to the winners of online games during the last three years from 2019-20 to 2021-22. While none of the winners of the game have paid tax on the amount won. The CBDT had asked the winners to disclose the correct income by filing updated income tax returns and pay tax on the same.
