Published
CasinoLegal & Regulatory

Casinos in India hit with tax evasion investigation

Ten of the biggest casinos in Goa have been placed under investigation by India’s tax agency under claims that they have been evading service taxes.In India casinos are required to pay licence fees to the government in order to stay in business.The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) served tax notices to the casinos which stated they were required to pay licence fees from the years 2014 through 2016. It also claims that the law states that casinos are required to pay a 15% tax on the fees.While one or two casinos have given in to the demand, a few casino owners have taken the action to court with the argument that licence fees are already equivalent to a permit for the casinos to operate and therefore there is no legal ground for the tax demand.An attorney who filed a writ petition with the Bombay High Court said: “Demanding tax on statutory licence fees is absurd. It’s like demanding tax on passport fees paid to the government. Based on a circular, the DRI has initiated investigation for applicability of service tax.”Tax experts have sided with the casinos saying that there has never been such a demand made before. M S Mani,Partner at Deloitte India added: “Many casinos have paid service tax on reverse charge basis and hence should not be expected to pay any other indirect tax. Further, since entertainment tax has been subsumed in GST, similar issues may not arise in future.”

indialaw

Asia News Sponsor
Premium+ Connections
Premium
 
 
Premium
 
Premium
 
Premium
 
 
Premium
 
Premium
 
Premium
 
Premium Connections
Consultancy
Executive Profiles
Scientific Games
Esportes Gaming Brasil
LeoVegas
Kalshi
Follow Us

Taking stock: Counting on crypto

Gambling Insider tracks the value of the biggest cryptocurre...

In focus: MiFinity

A trusted payments partner for the iGaming industry....

Panel: LatAm and crypto lead the way

During the SBC Summit Americas in Florida, executives from N...

In focus: Spayz.io

Payments that actually work for iGaming operators…...

A welcome from your host

A message from the Founder of the Global Gaming Awards and G...

From the Lead Partner

A message from BetConstruct - Lead Partner of the Global Gam...

The year in review

The Event Manager of the Global Gaming Awards reviews the mo...

Casino Operator of the Year 2025

We present to you the 2025 Shortlist for the Casino Operator...