Tax plan in Puerto Rico to legalise slots outside casinos

A tax reform has been approved by the Legislature and gaming machines outside casinos are to be legalised.

Puerto Rico.- A major controversy didn’t prevent the Puerto Rican Legislature from passing a tax reform legislation that is set to legalise gaming machines outside casinos. The bill was voted by both the House of Representatives and the Senate and will soon be signed into law by Governor Ricardo Roselló.

The Financial Oversight & Management Board for Puerto Rico had voiced its disagreement with the measure as it considered machines would cannibalise revenues that casinos pay to fund other government programmes. Chief executive Natalie Jaresko had criticised the government’s plan and said that the board hadn’t seen evidence that the video lottery proposal wouldn’t eat into other island revenue streams.

Even as it was highly questioned, the piece of legislation is expected to be signed into law by Governor Roselló, who repeatedly voiced his support for it and said he was “satisfied” with the plan and that “if there are no hurdles ahead, I’ll sign the bill.” He also explained that “should any obstacles come up (…) we’ll have to fix them fast.”