Australia Looks Into Tax for Online Operators

Following the footsteps of the UK, the state of South Australia is planning to put into place a Point of Consumption Tax (POCT) which will apply to interstate online betting operators that cater to South Australians.

Over 70,000 Online Bettors

The South Australia Treasury has estimated that some 74,000 South Australians maintain online gambling accounts with different operators who are not subject to any tax, only an annual $1,500 fee that grants their operation in SA.

SA treasurer Tom Koutsantonis told Australian newspaper The Advertiser: "It is important that online gambling operators pay taxes considering that they are generating profits based on betting activity of South Australians."

$47m in Yearly Revenues

The treasury estimates that the new POCT will bring the state a take of around $47 million per year. This sum will join some $390 million that the state collects from gambling companies that employ and cater to South Australians.

The hope is that besides for the added revenue for the state, POCT will help to put more balance in the competition between land based and online gambling operators.

Tighter Grip on Online Operators

Online operators are required to give the SA treasury a report on their business within the state, however, currently this information is self-reported.

This is prone to change: SA treasury is looking into models that will establish a serious processes of auditing and compliance, perhaps one that mirrors the activity of the UK Gambling Commission.

National Spread?

Treasurer Koutsantonis said that his department will report back to the other states mid this year on their work to discuss how the suggested model could work on a national scale.

While it's still early to estimate how this will impact online gambling in Australia as a whole, POCT has the obvious drawback of hitting operators in the pocket, but in the grand scale the UK model shows that proper regulation works for the benefit of all sides involved.