Delta Corp shares drop 9%; hit 52-week low on another tax notice worth ₹6,384 cr

Shares of casino operator Delta Corp Ltd dropped as much as 9% on Monday after the company received another notice worth ₹6,384 crore from the Directorate General of Goods and Service Tax (GST) Intelligence for the payment of shortfall tax.

The notices come less than a month after Delta Corp received GST notices worth ₹16,822 crore for the payment of shortfall tax.

The stock opened a gap down at ₹132.40, compared to the previous session close of ₹140 on the BSE, and fell to intra-day and a 52-week low of ₹127.30, down 9.07%. In the early morning trade, 9.95 lakh shares were being traded on the BSE against the two-week average of 7.21 lakh. The current share price of ₹128.35, the casino company's m-cap has dipped to ₹3,436.84 crore.

Delta Corp, in a statement to the exchanges over the weekend, said it has received an intimation for payment of shortfall tax under Section 74(5) of the CGST Act, 2017, and West Bengal GST Act, 2017, from the Directorate General of GST Intelligence, Kolkata.

The amount of alleged tax shortfall stands at ₹62,36,81,07,830 for the period January 2018 to November 2022, and ₹147,51,05,772 for the period July 2017 to October 2022, totalling ₹6,384.3 crore.

The notice advises Deltatech Gaming Ltd, a subsidiary of Delta Corp, to pay the alleged tax shortfall along with interest and penalty, failing which a show cause notice will be issued.

The company says: "The amounts claimed in the abovementioned notice are inter alia based on the gross bet value of all games played during the relevant period. Demand of GST on gross bet value, rather than gross rake amount, has been an industry issue and various representations have already been made to the Government at an industry level in relation to this issue."

It adds that Delta Corp and its subsidiary have been legally advised that the above notice and the tax demands are "arbitrary and contrary to law", and that they will pursue all legal remedies to challenge the tax demands and related proceedings.

DeltaCorp last month had last month received notices advising it to pay an alleged tax liability of ₹11,139 crore, along with interest and penalty for the period from July 2017 to March 2022. The casino operator received another notice amounting to ₹5,682 crore against three of its subsidiaries — Casino Deltin Denzong, Highstreet Cruises, and Delta Pleasure Cruise Company. Highstreet Cruises and Entertainment has received the biggest tax demand of ₹3,289 crore.

The tax demands come amid the GST Council's decision to increase the GST rates on casinos from 18% to 28% from October 1, 2023. Delta Corp owns casinos as well as poker and rummy websites. At its 50th meeting on July 11, the GST Council decided to levy tax on online gaming, horse racing, and casino services at a uniform rate of 28%. The tax will be applicable on the face value of the chips purchased in the case of casinos, on the full value of the bets placed with bookmakers in the case of horse racing, and on the full value of the bets placed in the case of online gaming.

After DeltaCorp, companies like NazaraTech, Bajaj Finserv, and ICICI Lombard have also received tax notices.