Winnings from fantasy gaming Taxable or not?

IPL is massively popular in India, and with that, there is also growth in the betting industry of Indian Fantasy Sports in the last five years. Fantasy Sports arranges online games which are based on real-life games like cricket and football. As per the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports, the income of these operators increased in the last few years. In the financial year 2020, it exploded to Rs. 2400 crores.  Also, there was an expansion in the number of users it was 10 in 201 and now there is 150 in 2020. There was an increase in the number of users of fantasy games from 2 million in 2016 to 100 million now in 2020.

LEGAL ASPECT

Every betting and gambling in India is controlled by the Public Gambling Act, 1867, which forbids all forms of gambling activities and also betting on games of chance. The Act does not cover any type of provision which is related to online gambling.  There is no particular law for online gambling in India. Online gambling can be of any type such as crossword, card games, etc.  Indian law recognizes two types of games which are games of chance and games of skill. Participation in any games of chance is completely restricted, whereas jurisprudence has some type of specific law for games with skill.

RULES OF TAXATION FOR GAMBLING OR GAMES INVOLVING GAMBLING

• The above games include some type of money for winning and that will be liable for tax.
• The minimum amount of winnings liable to be taxable is Rs. 10000.
• The winning under this type of online betting and gambling is taxable under Section 115BB of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
• This income shall be taxed under the head of “Income from Other Source”
• This income has a special provision that is related to winning from any card games, betting, crossword puzzle, or any other way. Provided that, as per Section 58(4) of the Income Tax act, 1961 no deduction is allowed for winnings from lotteries, Crossword puzzles, races, etc.
• Winnings of such income will be taxed at the rate of 30% which doesn’t involve cess and surcharge. This is without the advantage of the basic exemption limit.
• Under Section 194B of the Act, the platform that is paying for the winning will have to deduct the TDS. This will be applicable if the winning income is more than Rs. 10,000.
• The TDS which is deducted by the platform will have to be shown in Form 26AS.