Tabcorp could pay fewer taxes

An amendment in Victoria’s taxing legislation could reduce the company’s fee payments.

Australia.- Gaming experts in Australia consider that the giant sports betting operator Tabcorp could pay fewer taxes under the new Victorian taxing legislation. Victoria state treasurer Tim Pallas has announced that the government plans to introduce an eight per cent tax for online betting agencies. It is expected to start from January 2019 and would raise up to €18.9 million a year as it would be set below other states’ taxation rates.

Currently, Tabcorp contributes with a 6.5 per cent tax on revenue to the government for its sports betting operations throughout the country. But gaming analysts and racing industry officials on Tuesday said Tabcorp would likely be left “no worse off” as a result of the new tax, as reported by The Sidney Morning Herald.

“Tabcorp will also incur a 1.5 per cent increase in its average tax rate in Victoria but could see an offset — possibly through lower industry product fees — for tax already paid through its retail license,” UBS analyst Matt Ryan said.

Meanwhile, after the government of Victoria’s announcement, Tabcorp said: “It was important that the government recognised the substantial amount of wagering tax that Tabcorp and its joint-venture partner, the Victorian racing industry, already pay.”

Despite the announcement to tax the activity, Responsible Wagering Australia (RWA) considered the rate to be disappointing but highlighted the government’s “consultative approach” and its executive director Stephen Conroy said: “The online wagering industry already pays a significant amount of consumption tax through the GST, as well as corporate income tax to the federal government.”