New Zealand is on the verge of holding a national vote, and the two leading political groups are engaged in a fervent discussion regarding revenue from foreign gambling.
The governing Labour Party has countered the National Party’s proposition, asserting that if the National Party prevails, it will finance its spending initiatives by increasing levies on foreign gambling operators. The election is scheduled for October 14th.
The National Party, in unveiling its NZ$14.6 billion (US$8.7 billion/€8 billion/£6.8 billion) tax reduction strategy, stated that it could generate NZ$179 million annually from foreign operators.
National Party second-in-command Nicola Willis clarified that this would be accomplished by “eliminating tax loopholes and ensuring foreign operators providing online gambling services to New Zealanders pay their dues.”
Willis informed reporters that presently, goods and services tax (GST) is not being collected from the entire illicit market. The National Party will mandate that online casino operators register and disclose their earnings.
Services that fail to comply will be prohibited. Willis also emphasized that her figures encompass additional corporate tax and casino fees.
Labour has challenged the National Party’s projections.
Labour stated that the market size estimations are based on TAB and Lotto surveys. They added that GST is collecting less than NZ$40 million annually.
The Labor Party’s financial and internal affairs representative, Barbara Edmonds, stated: “Contrary to the National Party’s financial blueprint, there is no ‘tax escape’ for foreign online wagering.”
“We also query the cost estimates provided by the National Party, which imply that an average of NZ$179 million in earnings per year could generate NZ$716 million in revenue to validate their claims.”
“As [National Party revenue spokesperson] Andrew Bailey is aware, online casinos have only produced NZ$170 million since the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was implemented.”
Since October 2016, New Zealand has levied a 15% GST on services and intangible assets provided remotely by foreign suppliers. This encompasses remote gambling service providers who earn over NZ$60,000 from New Zealanders.
New Zealand Gambling Policy
Labor’s racing representative, Kieran McAnulty, also mentioned that the National Party’s financial plan risks double-counting other revenue received from foreign operators.
“Foreign platforms that offer sports and horse racing betting currently pay around NZ$4 million annually in point-of-consumption tax, which is returned to New Zealand’s sports and racing organizations for community well-being and harm reduction efforts,” McAnulty stated.
“It is unfortunate that the National Party’s plan to tax foreign platforms does not provide any funding for harm reduction work to address problem gambling.”
Its also crucial for them to be transparent about whether their proposal entails reductions in community and sports funding to offset the cost of tax cuts.
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