Betting operations tax revenue options
听has released a听听prepared by SACES regarding the revenue impacts of the Betting Operations Tax (BOT).
The BOT was introduced in South Australia in 2017 and most Australian States have since introduced BOT鈥檚 of their own or plan to do so. A key feature of the听听is that it collects taxes from wagering service providers (WSPs) wherever they are located, with the tax liability in South Australia based on all wagering by South Australian residents wherever the WSP and betting event is located.
The SACES report was commissioned by the Department in response to representations from the South Australian racing codes that they have been adversely affected by the introduction of the BOT. The codes presented the Government with a study prepared by the wagering services industry body听Responsible Wagering Australia听(RWA) which argued that a cut in the BOT rate would increase SA Government tax collections.
South Australia鈥檚 BOT rate is set at 15 per cent of net wagering revenue subject to a $150,000 threshold. SACES modelled the impacts on Government tax collections from WSPs other than the SA TAB if the BOT rate was reduced from 15 per cent to 10 per cent and from 15 per cent to 8 per cent.
SACES鈥 modelling results are in stark contrast to RWA鈥檚 results. SACES finds that the most likely consequence of reducing the BOT rate would be to reduce South Australia鈥檚 BOT collections from non-SA TAB WSPs quite substantially.
SACES concludes that 鈥淭he RWA argument that a BOT rate reduction would boost South Australian Government BOT revenues implies that everybody can win from a BOT rate reduction. But on the available evidence RWA鈥檚 position is simply not plausible鈥.听
The听听was released by the Department of Treasury and Finance on 7 June 2019.
It was co-authored by Jim Hancock, Suraya Abdul Halim and Owen Covick.