Page 3661 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 18 September 2018
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
The tax is scheduled to commence on 1 January 2019 and will be administered by the ACT Revenue Office. Operators liable for the tax will need to register with the Revenue Office for the lodgement and payment of the tax by return.
The ACT, like other jurisdictions, has not been immune to the social and economic impacts of online gambling. The introduction of the tax will assist to address some of these issues by ensuring that there is a more level playing field in terms of the tax that online operators are required to pay.
In his comments, Mr Parton referred to funding arrangements for the Canberra racing clubs. I can advise the Assembly that the territory provided around $7 million in funding to the Canberra racing clubs in the 2017-18 fiscal year, and that funding came directly from the territory budget.
As Mr Parton alluded to, until 2010 the funding of the racing industry was directly linked to the turnover of ACTTAB. The racing industry received 4.5 per cent of gross turnover. As Mr Parton indicated, this made funding levels very volatile and difficult to predict. Following a period of significant downturn in the performance of ACTTAB, the racing industry requested the government to reconsider the funding model for the industry. We did so. At that time, the government agreed to move to budget funding, to give the industry more certainty. The government also agreed at that time to introduce legislation to implement race field product fees. In total, the new funding model provided a significant increase to the overall funding to the industry. The budget funding received by the industry is guaranteed and is indexed each year, regardless of the year-on-year variation in racing sector activity.
This is a very different model in the ACT from that in other jurisdictions. The primary source of industry funding in other jurisdictions is from a direct agreement between the totaliser licence holder and the racing industry, based on a determined percentage of turnover or profit of the totaliser, not the secure, indexed budget funding model that we have in the ACT.
When we compare the ACT industry in terms of its share of national wagering turnover generated, in the 2016-17 fiscal year the ACT racing industry received a funding equivalent of around 6.3 per cent of turnover generated from betting on its product. This compares to the national average of 5.3 per cent. The industry also raises revenue from charging wagering operators for their race field product fees for the use of their racing information. I can advise the Assembly that in 2017-18 these fees raised around $2.6 million for the industry.
The majority of the point of consumption wagering tax revenue raised by the tax that we are supporting today will be generated through wagering by ACT residents on interstate racing and sports events, not on events that occur inside the territory. The ACT racing industry is well funded compared to other states and territories, and there is not a strong case for the provision of point of consumption tax revenue as additional funding for the industry.
Mr Parton sought further information in relation to how the additional revenue will be expended. That is outlined in considerable detail in the budget papers each year, but
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video