NPP defends proposal to raise football betting duty

Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee says the Hong Kong Jockey Club has overreacted to the party’s proposed tax increase.

Hong Kong.- Hong Kong government adviser Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee has defended the New People’s Party (NPP) proposal to increase Hong Kong’s football betting duty from 50 per cent to 80 per cent. She says Hong Kong Jockey Club “overreacted” in its statement against the proposed increase.

The HKJC had warned the move could deeply damage its current business model and Hong Kong’s global reputation as a racing jurisdiction, jeopardising the public interest. However, Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee said she believed there was room for the increases because football betting operates at lower costs.

She argued that horse racing involves costs not associated with football betting, such as maintenance and upkeep of horses, and that as such football betting should give more money to the government. In the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2022, the HKJC earned HK$19.7bn from football bets, compared to HK$19.4bn from horse racing.

See also: HKJC: Chinese New Year race day sees highest betting since 1997