Casino operator Delta Corp’s arm Deltatech Gaming Ltd has received a goods and service tax (GST) shortfall notice worth Rs 6,384 crore from the Directorate General of GST Intelligence, Kolkata, on October 13, 2023, the company said in a stock exchange filing on Saturday.
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Deltatech got a tax payment shortfall notice worth Rs 6,237 crore for the period January 2018 to November 2022 and shortfall of Rs 148 crore between July 2017 to October 2022, the statement read.
Officials have sought clearance of payment with interest and penalty failing which the company will be served with a showcause notice.
“The amounts claimed in the abovementioned notice are inter alia based on the gross bet value of all games played during the relevant period. Demand of GST on gross bet value, rather than gross rake amount, has been an industry issue and various representations have already been made to the Government at an industry level in relation to this issue,” Delta Corp said in its statement.
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The notice states Deltatech Gaming’s CEO is liable to pay the penalty as per the law.
“The Company and its subsidiary have been legally advised that the above notice and the tax demands are arbitrary and contrary to law, and the Company and its subsidiary will pursue all legal remedies available to them to challenge such tax demands and related proceedings,” it said.
Earlier in September, Delta Corp received a notice to pay Rs 11,140 crore in tax arrears. Delta Corp and two of its units had received intimations of an additional tax shortfall aggregating to Rs 5,683 crore for the period between July 2017 and March 2022.
The notice, issued under goods and services tax (GST) acts from 2017, deals another blow to the gaming company which is already contending with the federal government’s elevated levies.
The GST Council has decided to impose a 28% indirect tax on money collected by gaming companies. The stock had lost a fifth of its value then. While global investors have urged Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to review the 28% gaming tax, citing a setback to prospective investments of about $4 billion, the country’s revenue secretary had said there was no need to rethink the tax.
