Tabcorp-backed body lobbies for higher online betting taxes in Australia
Tabscorp (TAB), Australia’s largest gambling business, has allied with anti-industry group the Alliance for Gambling Reform as well as the Australian Hotel Association to lobby for higher taxes for online betting operators.
The newly-created trade association, named the Aussie Fair Play Coalition (AFPC), will push for other states to follow Queensland’s lead in harmonising the tax paid by online and land-based operators.
The group pointed to the fact that online operators are principally foreign-owned, and therefore argue that the inequitable tax rates unfairly penalise domestic businesses. While some online operators are from Australia, the majority are not based in Australian territory.
This argument is not a novel one – Victoria introduced the first point-of-consumption tax (POCT) in 2019, in the wake of fears that foreign-owned bookies were not paying Australian taxes.
Currently, the POCT stands at 10% in New South Wales and Victoria, 15% in the Australian Capital Territory, T..
