Apr
28th

Sportsbooks in India Targeted by Tax Probe

Online and offline sports betting are both prohibited in terms of Indian gambling laws but this has not stopped many local players from utilizing online sportsbooks hosted in countries where internet gambling is legal. Due to the fact that India’s gambling laws vary from state to state this activity falls into a legal grey area.

There has been a significant rise in local players betting on the foreign-hosted sports betting websites in particular on Indian Premier League matches and Twenty20 cricket tournaments.

The Indian government has noticed that several major online sportsbooks are targeting Indian bettors and India’s tax officials have started to scrutinize these sites.

Despite the fact that Bet365, Ladbrokes, William Hill and Betfair do not offer online sportsbook services in local languages or currencies the Indian tax officials are taking a great interest in their activities as they are all three very popular among Indian sports bettors.

It is not quite clear what the official’s goals are but it would appear as if they are worried about the rise of online gambling in India and the fact that the use of foreign-run websites by Indian citizens is beyond their control.

A Supreme Court lawyer specializing in information technology law reported that the legality of online betting and gambling is unclear. He added that different states enacted different anti-gambling laws and because these laws were made before the Internet era there is no clarity on online betting. There is no mention of online gambling in the IT Act 2000 or its amendment in 2008 but they have reason to believe that online betting is illegal.

Indian players are meanwhile happy that it does not seem as though any changes will be made to local gambling laws in the near future.

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