South Africa Seeks to Impose Gambling Taxes

While South African internet casinos were busted last year by new government regulations banning them, the gamblers are still seeking new ways to play.

Now, the government is looking to impose a 15% tax on gambling winnings that would be automatically withheld. This worries many casinos that there may need to be a squeeze on their margins to offer more attractive payouts for gamblers who are about to be subjected to taxation. Casinos, after all, don’t have large margins on games. Some of the margins are as low as 1%.

The land-based casino managers are also concerned that this may repel many high rollers. And this is where the money is made due to large bets placed. After all, a high roller can place $1 million bets on games such as baccarat, or play a slot machine with maximum bets and spin it faster than a hamster spins a wheel.

The proposed amendments to South African gambling laws may decrease legal gambling, especially since the casino hotels may be imposed with an extra 1% hospitality tax, further deepening the impact.

The lottery players are also expected to be taxed under similar plan. In effect, gambling and hospitality related jobs may go. This is too bad for a nation where unemployment stands at 25%.

According to South African gambling news, the proposed changes are likely to take effect as of April 2013. So players have some time left before the taxman comes.