ITAT Bangalore hasrecently ruled that gross winnings from online real money gaming activities shouldn’t be taxed, only net profits. This judgement came about in a case involving Mr Channappa from Doddakallasandra, Bengaluru, who had invested more than Rs 2 crore to play online Rummy and poker but ended up losing a net of Rs 28 lakh.
Channappa had filed an income tax return (ITR) reporting Rs 4.32 lakh total income which included sources like rental income from house, business income and income from other sources. Subsequently, his case was selected for scrutiny by the Income Tax Assessing Officer, Bangalore for verification of information. The tax officer had received information that Channappa had participated in online gaming activities in “Rummyculture” and “Gamezy” portals operated by Gameskraft Technologies Pvt. Ltd where he reportedly won Rs 2.33 crore, a figure he had not been disclosed in his ITR.
