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The Goa government will write to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman seeking to reconsider the GST council‘s decision to levy a 28 per cent tax on the full face value of bets in online gaming, casinos and horse racing.
Goa Industry Minister Mauvin Godinho, who is the state’s representative on the GST council, told reporters on Wednesday that the imposition of tax will prove to be a “very negative factor” for the industry and affect tourism in the coastal state.
“I have already taken up this issue with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant who said he would be writing to the Centre to reconsider the tax. The CM will take up this issue with the Centre and the Finance Minister. It will ultimately go for reconsideration before the GST council,” Godinho told reporters.
He said stakeholders in the online gaming, casino gaming and horse racing industry wanted the entire taxation to be done on the gross gambling revenue (GGR).
“There is no dispute on the imposition of 28 per cent GST but they have decided to impose it on the full face value. That is the only difference,” the minister said.
The GST Council on Tuesday decided to levy the maximum 28 per cent tax on the full face value of bets in online gaming, casinos and horse racing.
Godinho said this decision will hamper fresh investment in this industry and it will affect the sector.
“Even for Goa, footfalls are bound to decrease. Most of the flights to Goa are full because people come to play in casinos here. This decision is not going to be a very positive thing for the industry,” he added.
Cypriot officials have said that the resort located on the outskirts of the southern coastal town of Limassol would create 6,500 jobs, attract some 300,000 additional visitors to Cyprus each year and pour hundreds of millions of euros into the local economy annually. As other tourism-reliant countries, Cyprus is rebounding from the pandemic that had dried up tourist arrivals.
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