The latest news from the Land down under are suggesting Australian federal government is seriously considering a tax move that could deal a harsh blow to Northern Territory in terms of online sports betting.
The third largest Australian state is the country’s leader in online licensing, which could radically change if the government proceeds with the plans to harmonize state level online sports betting.
Nation POCT On the Horizon
Scot Morrison, Federal Treasurer, told the media the steps were being taken to draft an agreement, which would represent an approach to deal with this issue on a national level. The result of these joint efforts would be the introduction of point of consumption tax (POCT) on online gambling.
Morrison announced this after a meeting with the treasurers of Australia’s states and territories, where the upcoming 2017 federal budget was discussed.
Although many claim the goal of such an idea is only to raise revenue, Morrison insists the government only wishes to protect the players and the sporting bodies. But his attempts to persuade the public are still without success.
The first state to publicly call for the imposing of POCT was South Australia, nearly two years ago. With the adoption of South Australia’s 15% POCT, the state can expect more than A$9 million on a yearly basis.
As Morrison stated last week, South Australia could be a model for a future POCT on a federal level. He said the states and territories were open to suggestions and had promised to further examine the possibilities, but the confirmed the Northern Territory had certain reservations.
Fair or Unfair
This comes as no surprise, since The Top End is the home of the majority of Australia’s online betting operators, mainly because of its reasonable taxes. However, many other states accused the Northern Territory of stealing potential customers with their tax policy. The introduction of a national POCT would definitely affect the gambling market, not only in the Northern Territory, but in the Australia as a whole.
There is no information on when the new POCT could come into effect, since the country’s legislators are at the present busy fighting other gambling-related issues.
