Japan sends IR bill to the Diet
The government endorsed the IR implementation bill to set the regulatory framework for casinos and submitted it for treatment in the Diet.
Japan.- The Japanese government endorsed its integrated resorts (IR) Implementation Bill on Friday and submitted it to the Diet for voting. The bill is running a race against the clock as it needs to be passed before the current session ends on June 20th in order to get the casino industry regulated this year.
Shinzo Abe, Japan’s Prime Minister, highlighted the bill’s impact on tourism and projected it will have visitors from all over the world visiting the country to visit the soon-to-be-built casino resorts. Furthermore, he explained the country will take “complete measures to address various concerns including gambling addiction.”
The casino industry was legalised through a statute that came fully into effect in December 2016 and, afterwards, the ruling coalition (The Liberal Democratic and Komeito parties) managed to reach a consensus on the key topics regarding the creation of the casino industry.
The bill sets a nationwide three casino cap, in addition to a fixed tax rate of 30 per cent on GGR generated by casino resorts. It also sets a €45 casino entry fee for locals and limits casino visits to three times a week and 10 times a month.
Despite having so little time to pass the legislation, Japanese brokerage Nomura has said that Japan will likely pass its Integrated Resorts Implementation Bill during the second half of this year or the first half of 2019.
