Brief of the case:
The Hon’ble Sikkim High Court in the case of Future Gaming & Hotel Services Private Limited and others held that activities of distributors & agents selling lottery tickets cannot be considered as activities for facilitating promotion of lottery tickets issued by state government because there is no principal-agent relationship between the Govt. and distributors, and as such sale of lottery tickets being actionable claims cannot be charged to tax as it not even includible in the definition of service as per Sec 65B(44).
Facts of the case:
- The petitioner companies were engaged in the business of selling lottery tickets issued by the Government of Sikkim through various agents, stockists, resellers, etc.
- The petitioners’ grievance was that w.e.f 1st June, 2015 certain amendments were made in Sections 65B, 66D and 67 of the Finance Act, 1994, with an effort to make service tax applicable to the lottery tickets distributors. It is the case of the Petitioners that the amended provisions of the Finance Act, 1994, as a consequence of the Finance Act, 2015, do not cover the activities of the Petitioners which involve purchase and sale of lotteries.
- As a consequence of the amendment, the department issued letters to petitioners dated 18-05-2015 and 12-06-2015 to the Petitioner-Company in WP(C) No.40 of 2015 bringing to their notice that service providers in respect of services provided by lottery tickets distributors and selling agents are subject to charge of service tax as prescribed under Sub-Rule (7C) of Rule 6 of the Service Tax Rules, 1994.
- Against such letters and challenging the amendment made, the petitioners filed writ petition before the Hon’ble Sikkim High Court.
Contention of the Assessee:
Paid content
Become a Basic or Premium Member, or log in if you are already a Basic or Premium member.
