Tweaking of TDS provisions for online gaming likely to check tax evasion

The government is considering tightening the Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) framework for the online gaming sector to ensure that a better audit trail can be established for the money spent and earned from such activities and check evasion.

Also, given the buoyancy in tax collections, the budget target for the next fiscal (2023-24) is likely to be higher, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) chairman Nitin Gupta said on Tuesday.

"TDS provision needs a tweak for better audit trail," Gupta said on the sidelines of the inauguration of Taxpayers Lounge at India International Trade Fair (IITF).


Online gaming companies have been under tax scanner for the past few months following detection of tax evasion instances.

"Online gaming and betting is a new kid on the block and we will take a view at the stage of budget preparation and see how evasion can be controlled, and at the same time making it easy for taxpayers to maintain accounts and pay taxes," Gupta said.

ROBUST TAX COLLECTIONS
The CBDT chairman is upbeat about tax collections in the current fiscal.

"We believe we would exceed the budget estimate by a sizable margin this financial year," he told reporters. "Collections could be 25-30% higher than what has been given to us. Next year, given the buoyancy in tax collections, we would be giving a good revenue to the government."

A 25-30% growth in tax collection would take the net direct tax mop-up for the current fiscal to between ₹17.75 lakh crore and ₹18.46 lakh crore. The gross direct tax collections till November 10 stood at ₹10.54 lakh crore, registering a growth of 31% year on year. Net collections, after adjusting refunds, stood at ₹8.71 lakh crore, which is 61.31% of the budget estimates (BE) for the full year tax collection target.