Goods and Services Tax (GST) raids have allegedly unearthed tax irregularities at Bengaluru-based Gameskraft Technologies, the company which runs games such as RummyCulture and so on, reported India Ahead News. According to the TV news channel, raids were conducted at 10 properties of the company; and in the raids, several laptops and hard drives were seized by GST sleuths. MediaNama has reached out to GST Intelligence officials and Gameskraft Technologies for comments regarding the matter, and the report will be updated once they respond. There is ambiguity in the categorisation of online gaming under GST and revenue authorities have taken divergent views on the taxation of online games, according to a Financial Express report which cites research by the All India Gaming Federation (AGF). The report highlighted that the online gaming industry required regulatory certainty on valuation aspects. In 2019, MediaNama reported that the Department of Indirect Taxes was looking into how fantasy gaming companies in India calculate GST and whether the methodology they used led to revenue leakage. Gameskraft recently challenged Karnataka's online gambling law In October, multiple gaming companies such as Gameskraft, Mobile Premier League, Games24x7, and others filed petitions against a law passed by the Karnataka state government that outlaws online betting and gambling. Besides the ban, the amendment to Karnataka’s Police Act also increases the severity of punishment for people caught gambling: Inclusion of online gaming: The Police Act amendment expands the definition of “gaming” to include online games and games that use “electronic means and virtual currency,…
