GST for Lotteries
The Calcutta High Court has just ruled against a lottery distributor who had argued that lottery tickets should be exempt from Goods and Services Tax. Teesta Distributors went to court to argue that lottery tickets are an “actionable claim” and are not goods, which are subject to GST.
However, Justice Debangu Basak, who heard the case saw the matter differently and ruled that all lotteries are actionable claims and are therefore subject to the applicable tax rates, namely 12% GST tax on lottery tickets sold by state governments, and 28% GST on tickets sold outside of the state by private distributors.
Global Lotteries
After two enormous jackpot wins in as many weeks on the two giant American lotteries, where $1.6 billion was won by one ticket in the Mega Millions lottery, and two winning tickets sharing the $750 million jackpot prize on the Powerball, we have this week’s Powerball jackpot at $53 million, and the Mega Millions at $52 million.
The UK Lotto has a rollover jackpot of £5.1 million, while the EuroMillions is this week’s big prize at €90 million. These prizes do get won - but only if you play!