New POC tax changes could hurt Victoria

A possible change in point of consumption taxes is rising concerns around racing officials in Victoria, Australia.

Australia.- Australian states have been going through several changes in the past few months, and gambling has been under the spotlight. Now, there is a big chance that Victoria will follow other states and introduce point of consumption taxes, which are a big source of concern for racing officials in the state.

Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia are the three states that already introduced point of consumption taxes, and New South Wales and Victoria are expected to follow them. Racing officials from Victoria could suffer under a new regime as taxes on digital betting could hurt funding for the sport.

The new regulation would increase the tax burden on betting companies. Aaron Morrison, chief financial officer from Racing Victoria, said that companies are concerned that they would have to cut marketing and sponsorship budgets if the taxation scheme is too heavy.

“The risk we see is that if the corporate bookmakers are all of a sudden faced with an increase in their cost base because of the introduction of a new tax, what are they going to do, how are they going to respond? Anything that’s going to negatively impact on wagering turnover … is going to present a real risk for us,” Morrison said.