Online Gaming Industry Thanks Government for TDS Amendments

The online gaming industry, today, welcomed the Government’s decision to make TDS changes proposed in the Budget 2023 applicable from April 01, 2023, instead of July 01, 2023, as was proposed earlier. The proposed amendments made in the Finance Bill have been approved by both houses of Parliament.

With these changes, the industry expects to transition seamlessly to the new TDS regime. This will also enable the industry to streamline tax compliance as well as educate close to 200 million gamers on the new regime.

Speaking on the development, Joy Bhattacharjya, Director General, the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS) said, “We are grateful to the Government for accepting the industry’s appeal & ensuring a smooth transition to the new TDS regime for Online Gaming in the Finance Bill 2023. On behalf of our members, we commit to full compliance and to building a world-class industry. We also look forward to engaging with the Government on the rules for computation of net winnings and are hopeful that industry inputs will be given a favourable consideration.”

“We appreciate the government for revising the effective date of the new TDS regime for the online gaming sector. This prompt step will eliminate the significant operational difficulties and inconveniences for online gaming operators as well as for over 200 million gamers in the country. At E-Gaming Federation, we will continue to engage with the government and provide our expertise and cooperation in developing a tax regime that will uphold compliance with taxation rules,” said Malay Kumar Shukla, Secretary, E-Gaming Federation.

The online gaming industry was earlier deducting TDS as per section 194B of the Income Tax Act which taxed winnings over a threshold of INR 10,000. In Budget 2023, the Finance Minister proposed to create a new section 194BA for online gaming and proposed to levy a 30% TDS on “net winnings”. While the industry unequivocally welcomed this new provision, it had expressed concerns about compliance dates. With the requested amendments now made by the way of the Finance Act, the industry now awaits the guidelines on calculating net winnings for the purpose of TDS. The same is expected to be notified before the end of FY23.