Antigua passes gambling amendment

The Upper House of Parliament of Antigua passed with little debate the Gambling Amendment Bill 2017.

Antigua.- Antigua passed a gambling amendment this week with no resistance. The Gambling Amendment Bill 2017 is set to define the problems related to tax payments and the rates that belong to certain categories of the Act.

With the new amendment, the taxes for Supper Lotto, Pick 3 and 4, Caribbean Keno and Lucky Pick rise to 14 percent, whilst New Online Games grew to 10 percent and Instant Ticket Games Scratch & Win will collect 8 percent. According to the Antigua Observer, Opposition Senator Chester Hughes claimed that the rates are not as high as they should be: “I am not speaking about deterrent; the fees can’t deter people from gambling.” The official believes that the casinos are the ones that should be paying more in taxes to help with the social issues that affect the Antigua society.

“When you look at the lottery games where sometimes people don’t win and our athletes are struggling to get to games, and government is struggling to help the athletes, they should be paying more,” he added. Senator Lennox Weston, leader of Government Busines in the Senate, told him that the rates were set based on the standards of the industry.