Japanese ruling party approves bill proposal

Yesterday the tax for casino operations was revealed; now the government agrees on further measures.

Japan.- As the ruling coalition, the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito party is debating its proposal to legislate a casino industry in Japan, setting a 30 per cent tax for casino operations and limiting the number of legal venues to three. Furthermore, members of the party agreed yesterday on establishing casino entry fees of JPY6,000 (US$57), as revealed by the local press.

According to this week’s announcements, the highly-anticipated casinos would be able to be located in three different cities and the current legislation could be reviewed after the first seven years of legal casino operations in Japan. “The advance coordination of the ruling coalition on these matters makes it far more likely that the IR Implementation Bill will be passed in the current Diet session, scheduled to end on June 20,” explained the Japanese media.

The Integrated Resorts (IR) Implementation Bill is yet to be approved, but the Japanese government continues to look into the different requirements for operators and gamblers. The latest proposition involves demanding that companies report on customers who exchanged chips and cash worth €7,700 (¥1 million) or more as part of anti-money laundering measures. An official poll revealed that 65.1 per cent of Japanese voters claimed to be against casino developments in the country, with only 26.6 per cent of residents voting in favour of the measure.