India’s Supreme Court upholds taxes on lotteries

The court ruled that it is not against the constitution to apply the General Services Tax to lottery tickets.

India.- India’s Supreme Court has ruled in favour of the application of Goods and Services Tax (GST) on lotteries.

India’s GST Council applies a duty of 12 per cent on lotteries run in the same state and of 28 per cent on those sold in other states.

Punjab operator had Skill Lotto Solutions launched a legal claim arguing that application of the tax to lotteries and lottery winnings was discriminatory and against the constitution.

The plaintiff said lottery tickets were not goods as defined by the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, but “actionable claims” which are exempt from taxes, except for specific gaming taxes.

The SupremeCourt has ruled that it is not discriminatory to apply taxes to betting and gambling tickets since they had always been regulated in the country. This allowed the Council to treat lottery tickets and winnings differently than other actionable claims.

The lotto operator will be allowed to challenge the 28 per cent rate with a new claim.