Córdoba to Apply Online Gaming Tax SOUTH AMERICA
Te Ministry of Finance for the province of Córdoba has announced that it will begin to apply a tax on online gaming transactions
Te new tax, which will go into effect in January, aims to generate around $75m (US$4.4m) a year for state coffers
ARGENTINA ONLINE GAMING
MEXICO – The Governor of the Mexican state of Chihuahua, Javier Corral Jurado, has announced that there will be two new taxes applicable to casinos and bookmakers in the region standing at six per cent and three per cent.
Combined the new taxes are expected to raise around $130m ($US6.9m) during 2018. The new initiative was delivered to the State Congress as part of the Income and Budget Expenditures Act for 2018. The two new taxes will affect both casinos and players. The first will impose a three per cent tax on player winnings, which would be retained by gaming establishments in addition to the commission that these establishments already charge. Meanwhile the six per cent tax will be applied on income generated by casinos and bookmakers. Governor Javier Corral Jurado said that the new tax was a way of “exploring new income alternatives, without undermining the Chihuahuan economy." According to the modification provided for the Tax Code for the State of Chihuahua, the Ministry of Finance will allocate 50 per cent of additional gaming tax revenue for promoting tourism while the rest will be used for the construction of tourist infrastructure. The state is also seeking to gain an additional $120m ($US6.4m) via a new state lottery which could be launched next April.
ARGENTINA – The Mayor of Necochea Facundo López has questioned the government's decision to close the single casino in the city of Necochea in the south-east of the Buenos Aires Province claiming it would 'leave 70 families out on the street.'
López also warned of the negative impact the closure would have on the local tourism industry. Meanwhile, municipal authorities, as well as representatives for casino workers and the local tourism industry plan to hand a petition to the Head of Lottery and Casinos of the province, Matías Lanusse asking him to reconsider.
The Lottery and Casinos Institute decided to definitively close the casino after it was found to be consistently running at a loss generating an income of just over $3.5m while costing $39.5m a year to maintain. However, council member of Cambiemos, the leading party in the province, Marcela Fernández Palma said that the Governor’s decision was a political one as it fell into government policy of reducing gaming in the province.
Governor of the province of Buenos Aires María Eugenia Vidal decided not to include the casino in the new tender process meaning that it would close for good. In August, it was revealed that Vidal had decided to begin the tender process for the majority of casinos in the province before the end of the year.
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Te Ministry of Finance for the province of Córdoba has announced that it will begin to apply a tax on online gaming transactions. Te new tax, which will go into effect this month, aims to generate around $75m (US$4.4m) a year for state coffers. Credit cards will be responsible for charging players for any online gaming transactions and withholding the new tax according to a report in local daily La Voz.
Online gaming via offshore sites has been growing for several years in the province. From January the new charge will be applied to all transactions made in the province. According to the Ministry of Finance, the government estimates that the new charge will generate $75m in 2018 and the forecast is that the government will collect around $1,500m the year after at a rate of $126m per month.
Under current plans, the government will collect 10.5 per cent of all bets made online. Credit card companies will apply the charge and then transfer it to the government. Te new charge will be applied to all online games, over all online platforms and will be applicable to all
Chile
IGT has secured 35 per cent of the gaming machine floor share at the newly opened Casino Luckia Arica in Chile. Te installation is comprised of five different IGT cabinets – the AXXIS 23/23, the CrystalDual, the CrystalSlant, the OXYGEN and the S3000. Te IGT cabinets at Casino Luckia Arica feature a myriad of IGT game themes such as Golden Eagle, Party Time! and the diversity HD multi-game suites.
“We knew that it was critical to include a range of IGT solutions to realise our vision of a world- class gaming destination at Casino Luckia Arica,” said Peter Müffeler Vergara, Casino Luckia Arica S.A. General Manager. “We worked closely with IGT to identify the ideal combination of games and cabinets from its industry-leading portfolio that will help us entertain a wide spectrum of players and quickly become a player-favorite casino in Chile.”
operators offering their services locally. Te government plans to pay special attention to some of the larger online companies offering their services locally.
At first, the Ministry of Finance for the province said that the new tax would make up in part for lost tax revenues made from offshore operators, which could be as high as $1,800m while the new tax will only contribute $75m. However, the new charge could be the first in a series of steps the government is looking to take in order to raise more tax income from the industry. "We know that it is not an important amount, but we are going to set a precedent from this point onwards," the Ministry of Finance said.
In Argentina, online gaming has been permitted since 2006 but only on a province-to-province basis and there is no national law in place. A very small number of licences have been issued and only locally authorised sites may offer their service in the province where they operate. Demand is high in Argentina due to the huge local passion for sports and because of a lack of any attractive land based sports betting offer.
Mexico's online betting market stands at over US$2bn
Mexico
Online betting in Mexico stood at US$2bn billion dollars last year, but 90 per cent (US$1,800m) was made via illegal online sites. Te data was made pubic by President of the Association of Licensees and Suppliers of Games and Draw, Alfonso Pérez Lizuar.
Lizuar said: "Te gaming industry in Mexico is struggling, because online gaming is taking a part of the physical market, today's players prefer to bet online rather than in casinos and thus avoid paying taxes." Government sanctioned betting via legally authorised sites currently makes up only 10 per cent of all market revenues, while land based casinos make up the remaining 90 per cent.
Te upward trend towards online betting was confirmed according to data from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography. Gambling income grew by an average of six per cent from January to August 2017, while gaming online saw a 21 per cent increase in that same period.
Te latest statistics show that gambling via offshore sites has grown significantly since 2015. According to Te Mexican Operators and Providers for the Entertainment and Gaming Industry, the size of the online market stood at US$300m in 2015. In March 2016 members of the gaming industry in Mexico urged lawmakers to regulate online gaming quickly due to the fact that the market was being targeted by offshore operators. Lack of government control was, they argued, leading to a growth of illegal gaming especially amongst minors making it the fastest- growing online gaming market in Latin America.
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